Le Papillon Rising
by OACrutchfeild
Summary: Gabriel Agreste never wanted the ring. He tried to escape being Chat Noir after the death of his wife... but you can't run from fate./ Adrien Agreste never thought he'd end up a villain, but after the death of his mother, thanks to the Miraculous, he'll do whatever it takes to get her back... even if it means hunting down the Heroes of Paris.
1. Chapter 1

**This is based off of portentous – offerings . tumblr 's AU. Follow her, she rules.**

The small violet creature rests in the palm of his hand, shaking out its wings and looking up at him with huge eyes.

"Who… what are you?"

The thing smiles up at him. "Hi, Adrien! My name is Nuru, and I'm a kwami! I'm here because, apparently, you've been chosen to be the next weilder of the butterfly miraculous!"

Adrien's heard that word before. It's not a pleasant memory.

 _Run, get out of here!_

 _No, Mom, please-_

 _I have to fight, sweetie, please. I've got the Miraculous. It's my duty._

"What does that mean?"

The kwami begins explaining. The more he- _it,_ talks, the angrier Adrien gets. Give people magic? What, so they can get themselves killed?

"The most powerful Miraculous, though, are the Ladybug's earrings and Chat Noir's ring, which are only given in an emergency," the kwami continues. "Together, they can do anything, with the power of a god."

This interests Adrien. "Anything?"

"Well, yeah!"

"Could… could they bring the dead back?"

It looks uncomfortable. "Well, yes, but-"

"How do I get them?" If this thing is telling the truth…

"You can't! You can only be given one Miraculous, that's how the scales remain balanced-"

Adrien looks down at the pin. "And this one… what can it do, again?"

"It can grant the wish of an outsider, and make them your champion!"

He looks down at the pin. The idea that's running through his head is sick, wrong, against all his morals…

"You said the Ladybug and Chat Noir Miraculous would only be given in times of emergency. Like, say… if super-villains began attacking Paris?"

"Well, yeah, exactly!"

"And with this…" he gestures to the pin. "That could happen."

Nuru suddenly gets the feeling that something is extremely wrong. "Adrien, you can't! The Miraculous are used for good!"

"This is good. I'm saving a life," he smiles sadly. "You can't stop me."

It bows its head. "Adrien…"

"Nuru… dark wings, rise!"

…

"Master! Master!"

Fu glances up at his kwami, before looking down at the customer. "Ah… master! Master!" Fu chants, grinning. "Just some chanting rituals, very… helpful."

He then proceeds to shove the man out the door.

"What is it?"

"I… I'm not sure. I felt Nuru, but it felt… wrong. Not evil, exactly, but definitely very wrong."

Fu shakes his head. "Do I need to take care of it?"

"No, master, you're too-"

"I'm still young, Wayzz! I'm _only_ 184!"

"Nevertheless, I don't think you alone can stop this."

Fu sighs, and glances to the box. "I… I could always pull _him_ out of retirement."

"… Master, you can't be serious. Anyway, Chat Noir without Ladybug?"

"I can find a Ladybug," Fu asserts. "We all knew _he_ couldn't run from _his_ past forever."

Wayzz is uncertain. " _He_ hated being Noir, and _he_ hates us for what happened to _her._ "

Fu walks over to the box, opening it carefully. "I know. But we don't have a better option."

…

"Adrien!" Gabriel looks around the house. "Where is that boy…?"

"Right here."

He turns around to see his son staring him in the eye, a backpack over one shoulder.

"Adrien…"

"I'm going, Father. I need this."

"You don't. You're safe here. As long as you're here…"

Adrien clenches his fists. "I'm not made of glass, and you can't keep me safe forever."

"I can, and I will," Gabriel looks at his son coldly. He may have lost Bridgette, but hell if he's going to lose her child… even if Adrien hates him for it. After all, it was when Gabriel was fifteen that Fu decided to take him as a soldier of the Miraculous. Who's to say he won't try the same with Adrien?

Well, Gabriel Agreste for one.

He hits a number on his cell phone. "Nathalie?"

"Yes, Mr. Agreste?"

"Keep Adrien inside. Do _not_ let him out of the house. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Mr. Agreste."

Turning away from his fuming son, Gabriel heads to his study. He has work to do…

Work that is not supposed to include that small silver box.

"No, no, I refuse. I'm not getting dragged back into this mess," he pushes the box off the desk, letting it fall open.

"Gabe, please! We need you!" the small black kwami appears in a burst of green light.

"After what happened to Bridgette? No thank you. I finally got rid of you, I'm not taking that ring back," Gabriel turns around, and begins walking. "Leave me be."

"Then Fu'll make sure it gets to Adrien."

The man stops in his tracks. "You wouldn't dare."

"I would."

"… When do we begin?"

…

A girl with dark hair and blue eyes came home that day from school, and found a small silver box, with kwami and earrings in tow, and took on the role of Ladybug. At least, that's what Gabriel figures, since a small girl dressed like Bridgette falls from the sky that afternoon. "Okay, this is too much," he mutters.

"What?"

"How old are you? Twelve? Fu's robbing cradles for his soldiers nowadays?"

"What are you _talking_ about? I'm fifteen! Are you the partner Tikki mentioned?"

"Yes," he looks her over. The girl certainly looks younger than Adrien. She's in pigtails, for god's sake! He didn't even think about what working with a kid would be like…

"Well… sorry for crashing into you…" she looks embarrassed. "I'm- Um…" she pulls at her yo-yo, sending it right in between Gabriel's eyes. "So sorry!" she finishes.

Rubbing his forehead, Gabriel looks down at the kid, eyes wide, completely unprepared, and feels a surge of paternal affection. "Don't worry about it. I'll show you the ropes, okay? I was a mess at this at your age, too."

"Wait, you've been doing this since you were _my age?_ "

This is going to take some explaining, isn't it?


	2. Chapter 2

He watches the butterfly in his hand. "Sorry about this," he looks at the pure white wings, soon to be blackened with hate.

The bell rings, and he looks up. Time to put his other plan into action…

…

Marinette stares straight ahead as she walks into class. Yesterday was a mess of emotions and insanity. Apparently, not only is she a superhero now, but she's in danger of being roped into this for the rest of her life.

She slides into the room to see a blond boy crouched over her seat.

"Hey, what do you think you're…? You know what? I'm too tired to deal with this." She sees the gum, and the boy's wide eyes. "What, didn't think you'd get caught?"

"N-no! You have it wrong, I-"

"I'm sorry, no. You're not funny, and I'm sick of being pushed around by jerks like you lot," she glares at him. "Get off my desk."

He looks shocked, and more than a little hurt, but does as she says. She places a napkin over the gum, and offers Alya a thumbs-up. The redhead grins. "Told you, good people win out!"

Adrien watches the girl with wide eyes. "She's…"

"That's Marinette," the boy next to him says. "You, um… you caught her on a bad day. Honestly, though, why didn't you just say Chloe put the gum there?"

"I… I don't know. Chloe's kind of the only friend I have. I don't know why she's acting so crazy," he feels almost sick seeing her like this. It's not the girl he knows at all. Suddenly there's a commotion in the back of the classroom.

"Shut it, Kim!"

"Oh, please, you're such a-"

"SHUT UP!"

Adrien tenses, then looks in his bag. The butterfly's wings flutter gently. This is his chance. He gets up, and slips out of the classroom as the tall boy, Ivan, is sent to the principal's office.

Hiding behind the school, he tenses. "Can I do this…?" he looks at the butterfly, and thinks of the boy. Then, he thinks of his mother. " _I have to."_

…

The villain crashes through the city without warning. Marinette's prepared. _Thank god for Mr. Noir,_ she thinks to herself, transforming quickly. If he hadn't told her all about villains, fighting, and her role, she'd be lost right now. As it is…

She races across the city, ready for action. He's already at the football arena, studying the creature. "It gets stronger with each hit," he tells her. "We can't attack head-on."

"Then what do we do?"

He looks at her. "You, kid, are staying here."

"What? Mr. Noir!" she complains. "I was picked to be the next Ladybug for a reason!"

"You're fifteen. That is a giant monster made of stone. I don't think you're ready to fight it."

"It has a classmate of mine! Also, I'm pretty sure it _is_ a classmate of mine!"

"Really? Do you have any idea where the akuma object might be?"

There's a pause. "Well… no."

He looks her over carefully. "You're staying here. I'll figure this out, kid, okay?"

" _Kid?"_

"Yes, kid! You're fifteen, you're not ready for a fight yet!"

He turns around, and leaps into the fight, activating his Cataclysm calmly, and is about to use it on the monster when he feels a yo-yo around his waist, yanking him back. "What?"

"You can't do that, it'll hurt Ivan!"

" _That's the point."_

"There's got to be another way!"

"Kid-"

"No, Mr. Noir, I'm not a kid. I'm Ladybug, and I'm not letting you hurt him."

There are fifty thousand things running through Gabriel's mind as he stares down the girl. She's too young. Her naïve nature and innocence will get her killed in a second. She's not the kind of Ladybug he's worked with before.

But she's right. She's Ladybug. With a sigh, Gabriel lets the cataclysm go on a goal nearby. "Fine. Your move."

She looks surprised, but not unpleasantly so. She smiles up at him, before activating Lucky Charm.

"… Um," she stares at the wetsuit. "What am I supposed to do with this?"

…

Adrien watches through the staff. The two heroes are just… standing there. Holding a wetsuit. One of them broke a soccer goal.

"What the hell…?" he mutters. Then, he activates the akuma connection. "They're distracted. Get the stones and I'll get you're wish, okay? Then this can all be over."

The creature- no, _Ivan,_ Adrien reminds himself, this is a _person_ he's using, as soon as he forgets that, he's a goner- grunts in affirmation, and attacks the pair of heroes.

It's at that moment that the girl throws the man at _Ivan,_ into his grip. Adrien sees what's happening quickly. "Drop him!" he orders, but it's too late, the tap's already been turned, and the letter falls to the ground, where the girl tears it apart, releasing the akuma. "It… It didn't work," Adrien whispers as the boy transforms back to normal.

The butterfly isn't gone though. It's still dark as night, flying higher and higher…

Adrien detransforms, letting Nuru fall into his hands. "Nuru… it's not purified like you said…tell me exactly what this means," he ordered.

"She must have forgotten…" the kwami looks up, sadly. "It means you just have to wait for the boy to get angry again… and in the meantime, the akuma can… multiply."

"Multiply?"

…

Marinette can barely believe that just happened. "It worked… Mr. Noir, it worked!" she jumps up, wrapping her arms around the man in her excitement. "I told you!" she trills.

"You sure did," he grins, ruffling her hair. "Not bad, kiddo…" he glances at the earrings. "Now get out of here before all of Paris finds out exactly who saved them."

She salutes, cocking her head, and dashes off, but not before talking to the girl who showed up to film everything and turn on the tap. Gabriel laughs, slipping away to detransform.

"So you'll do it?" Plagg grins.

"Well, I'm not leaving the city in the hands of a teenage girl."

The black kwami leaps out of his hands, hugging him as best he can. "It's good to have you back, Gabe!"

"Gabriel. It's Gabriel."

"Whatever!"

…

The akuma lands at the top of the Eiffel, and a flood of dark-winged butterflies starts streaming across the sky…


	3. Chapter 3

Gabriel enters the house, and slams the door shut.

"Something wrong, Gabe?" Plagg asks.

"Still can't believe I agreed to this, that's all… Do you have a clue how busy I am, Plagg?"

"Yeah, yeah, Gabe the klutz grew up to be a superstar, right? Sure showed everyone, and all that," the kwami smirks.

"Oh, can it."

"Who are you talking to, Father?"

Gabriel spins around to see his son watching him intently. "Ah, conference call," he says, grabbing his phone haphazardly.

Adrien doesn't seem to buy it, but won't say a thing. "I came to tell you that my bodyguard was just turned into a giant statue, but clearly, you're busy. I'll take my leave."

"What?" Gabriel puts the phone down. "Adrien, what are you talking about?"

"The Gorilla just turned into a frozen statue."

"Is this your idea of a joke?"

"No."

Gabriel thinks back to the fight. No… she must have… she _must_ have purified the akuma at some point…

No. She didn't. That means…

"It's multiplying…" he mutters. He looks up Adrien. "Go to your room. Do not come out until I say it's safe."

There's a tiny smile on Adrien's face as he leaves the room. "Yes, Father."

…

"Why did you tell your father about the new akumas?" Nuru questions as Adrien slips out his window to school.

"I thought it'd be funny."

"That's a terrible reason, Adrien," the kwami gives him a long look.

Adrien hits the street and begins running. "I wanted his attention, okay? I mean, why else would I zap the Gorilla in the first place?"

"To get him off your case and get to school?"

"Oh, yeah. Well, whatever. The look on his face… did you see it, Nuru?"

"Terror?"

"Oh, c'mon. It was…" he climbs up the stairs and sees Ivan surrounded by a group of students, "…funny…"

"I mean, c'mon, who's to say he won't turn into a psycho monster all over again?" Chloe looks disgusted. "He's insane. We should just stay away, you know?"

Adrien feels an intense guilt at this. He never realized how much it might affect someone's life to be… turned into a monster… and destroy a lot of the city… he should have thought of that, maybe.

"Shut up."

He turns around to see Marinette Dupain-Cheng walking confidently past him, and up to Chloe.

"It wasn't Ivan's fault. There's some sociopath out there who did this to him. He's more a victim than anyone. Blame whoever did this, not Ivan," she tells Chloe, blue eyes flashing with anger.

This does not make Adrien feel less guilty.

Ivan walking out and Marinette running after him do not help things either.

…

Marinette finds Ivan in the hall, glaring at the ground. "You shouldn't have done that, Marinette. She's right. I'm some kind of monster."

"You are _not._ You're my classmate, and you're a good guy. You don't deserve this," she crosses her arms, clearly angry.

"We both know I'm not a 'good guy,' I was a delinquent before this started," he snaps.

"Mylène doesn't think so."

This gets his attention. "What?"

"Mylène. You should tell her you like her."

"Great idea. Why don't I run for class president while I'm at it?" he rolls his eyes. "I'm sure I'll have just as much success."

"C'mon. She likes you too. You two are, like, made for each other!" Marinette grins. "You write music, right?"

"Yeah…"

"So, write her a song!"

Ivan stares at her. "Marinette, I write metal. Most of it is stuff that sounds like death threats. She'll be terrified and run away."

Marinette is getting exasperated. "Then write the lyrics down and give them to her."

He looks at her for a long time. "Leave it alone, Marinette. She's never going to go for a monster like me."

With that dramatic statement, he stomps into the one place in the school Marinette cannot follow: the boy's bathroom.

…

Adrien feels terrible doing this, but the akuma in his bag is glowing. This is his chance. "I can't…" he whispers. "I…"

"Don't!" Nuru says instantly. "You can still go back to good, Adrien."

"I… no. I can't," he releases the akuma. "I have to save her."

He transforms, and begins instructing Stoneheart for the second time.

…

"Mr. Agreste, the statues have started moving."

He nods. "And Adrien?"

"He hasn't come out of his room."

"Good…" Gabriel sighs. "You're excused, Nathalie."

"Yes sir."

The woman exits, and Plagg pops out. "Well?"

"You know what to do."

The transformation is quick, and soon, Noir is racing down the street.

…

Marinette taps the earrings. "Well are we doing this or not?"

Tikki pops out. "You'll purify the akuma?"

"I'm not going to give Mr. Noir the satisfaction of being right," she rolls her eyes. "Tikki, transform me!"

She heads to the scene to find Noir fighting an army of akuma off two girls… Mylène and Chloe. He looks serious, and is fighting harder than she would have thought possible for anyone. There's a protective look in his eyes.

"You're not going to hurt any more children on my watch," Noir shouts, furiously.

Marinette races in. "I'll get them out," she says, grabbing the girls. He looks down for half a second, and nods, not ceasing the fight.

Marinette pulls the girls away under Noir's cover, and yanks them up to a rooftop. "Do _not_ move," she tells them, staring right at Chloe.

"I won't!" the blonde girl smiles. "Wow, you're like, so cool!"

Marinette smirks at the irony. "Am I? How interesting."

With that, she backflips off the roof, enjoying the strength the suit gives her to the fullest… until she sees something that shakes her to the core. Stoneheart has Noir, and he's taking him to the Eiffel tower.


	4. Chapter 4

The akuma pull out of the other akuma victims in a flash, leaving the citizens on the ground, confused. Only one, Ivan, remains, holding Noir above the city.

The akuma butterflies begin forming into a form… the body of a man, who looks over the city. "Hello, beautiful city of Paris!" the voice is soft, but sends a chill down Marinette's spine. "I am le Papillon, the man responsible for the recent attacks. I apologize for having to resort to these methods… I promise, I'm usually pretty normal, but right now, there's something I need."

Marinette watches, nonplussed, as the man- le Papillon- makes his awkward speech. He sounds like a kid trying to sound like an adult.

"What do you want?" she calls up, her voice carrying across the rooftop to him. He sees her and smiles.

"Hello, Ladybug! I'm glad you're here. So, if you give me your earrings, then I'll take Noir's ring, and we can be done with this whole thing," he extends a hand.

"… Are you insane?"

"Yeah, probably," he admits. "But look, if you give me the earrings, I'll go away, and then there's no need for this anyway. If you don't… just remember that any destruction I cause could have been avoided." He steps back. "I, um, I just realized that sounds really bad, doesn't it?"

"It really does," she tells him. "Just stop this. Why do you even want the stones?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Then forget it."

…

Gabriel is clenched in the fist of a giant monster listening to what seem to be two kids argue over whether Paris would end up being destroyed or the most powerful weapons in the world would go to the guy threatening to destroy it. This isn't how he remembers the whole superhero thing… except for the mortal peril thing. That's the same.

"Hey, kid!" he calls out after they've had a nice long juvenile chat of, "Give it!" "Nuh-uh!" "Uh-huh!"

"Don't call me kid!"

He rolls his eyes. "Are you going to purify the akuma or just chit-chat with them?"

She smiles. "You know what? I have one last thing to say."

"Great. Say it."

She drops down to the base of the Eiffel and looks up at the mass of akuma. "You're not getting the Miraculous, and I'm not letting you hurt this city. Mr. Noir and I, we're going to protect the people of Paris from evil like you, and there is _nothing_ you can do about it, because good will always triumph." With that, she sends her yo-yo flying out, taking down most the akuma and leaving only the original Stoneheart… who, unfortunately, is still holding Noir.

…

Adrien realizes that he should have rehearsed this. It's not going as planned. He twists the pin, exasperated. "Stoneheart, get the Miraculous. Now!"

The monster refuses to listen. Why isn't it- _he, Ivan, don't be a sociopath-_ listening?

And… "No, no, no!" Adrien shouts as Ivan climbs higher, and flings Noir at the ground. "Why isn't this working?"

Ladybug catches the man, but is knocked off her feet. There's a short conversation as Adrien realizes he's lost control of the situation. Then Ladybug leaves, and he detransforms, falling to his knees, holding his head in his hands. "Nuru. Explain. Now."

"The akuma wasn't getting what he wanted, so he stopped listening to you. It happens sometimes."

"And you didn't tell me this, why?"

The violet kwami glares at him. "I do as you order me, and no more."

"Damn it!" he cursed. "What now?"

"Did you think this would be easy, Adrien? Like Ladybug said, good always wins."

"The akuma is still-"

"Defeated. She got the girl, Mylène, to distract him, and purified the akuma," the kwami smiles. "You lost, Papillon."

…

Marinette returns to school that afternoon riding a wild high, and she spends the day smiling like crazy. Ivan and Mylène do _not_ return to school.

When Adrien walks into class, however, she frowns, and turns away. He looks hurt, but once her back turns, a determination stirs in him. He's going to win her over. This girl, who stands up for her classmates, who takes no bull, and whose eyes shine like stars, he's going to get her attention, in a good way, this time.

When the bell rings, and she walks out of the building into the rain, he follows her. "Marinette, wait."

Hearing her name, the girl turns to see the boy from yesterday, Chloe's lackey. "Do you need something?"

"Just… I'm sorry about yesterday, I was honestly trying to get rid of the gum. I should have said that earlier but… I didn't really know how. I've never done this before, the school thing. I don't have a clue how to make friends, and… I just wanted to say sorry."

She softens. "I'm sorry I judged you so fast. I was dealing with some things yesterday, and I took it out on you. I'm sorry too."

He smiles, and then notices. "You don't have an umbrella…" It's a split-second decision.

Marinette is about to shrug off his comment, but suddenly, he holds out his own umbrella, and his deep green eyes are staring into her soul. There's something dangerous in those eyes, but behind the danger is kindness, and pain. "Marinette?" he asks, quietly.

She reaches her hand out, and for a moment, their hands are intertwined, and everything seems clear. Blue and green connect, and something starts cracking in Adrien's heart, and blooming in Marinette's. "Thank you," she smiles. Then she pulls her hand back, and…

The umbrella collapses, trapping her inside.

Adrien's eyes widen, and suddenly, he can't contain his laughter. Marinette lifts up the umbrella to glare at him, but in the end, she's laughing as well.

"I'll see you in school," Adrien smiles, and walks towards the waiting car, but not before casting one last glance over his shoulder. "Marinette…"

…

Meanwhile, Fu watches the scene, coldly looking on.

"There's a darkness in that boy," Wayzz tells him, worriedly. "If she gets too close to him, we could lose her…"

"We cannot interfere," the old man mutters. "Not yet."

…

Gabriel watches his son climb into the car. "You disobeyed me," he says calmly.

Adrien looks down. "Yes, Father."

"Take a nice long look at that school… you're going there from now on."

Adrien's head snaps up, and Gabriel smiles. He's negotiated to keep the Miraculous out of his son's hands. Now, he'll be safe from that, at least. So maybe things _can_ change…

Just a bit.

And the smile on Adrien's face makes Gabriel think that maybe taking back the Noir ring is actually worth it.


	5. Chapter 5

"Marinette!"

She sighs, and looks up at her mother. "Is something wrong?"

"Mrs. Chamack's daughter really needs a babysitter, and I'm busy with the bakery. Could you watch Manon for me?"

Marinette rolls her eyes. It's not like she's really being given much of a choice. "Alright. When?"

"Right now."

"Wait, what?"

"Thanks sweetheart! I knew I could count on you!"

And Marinette is left with a bratty little girl, just as the phone starts ringing. The number is unknown…

…

Adrien waits tensely as the phone rings. "This was a bad idea," he whispers to Nuru, who's grinning up at him.

"It's a great idea! If you get together with this girl, you might have a chance at goodness!"

"Is that why you're helping me?"

"Hello?"

Adrien nearly drops the phone. "Marinette! Um, hi! It's Adrien, from school?"

"From yesterday, I remember." Her voice sounds a little shaky. "Um, what's up?"

He looks nervously to Nuru, who nods, smiling. "Well, I hear you like my father's work, right?"

"Um, yes. Why?"

"Well, there's a photo-shoot in the park in ten minutes, and if you wanted to come, I could probably show you some of the new stuff, and maybe introduce you to one of the designers…"

"Are you serious?" she practically squees. "I'd love to come!"

"Wait, really?"

"Um, yes… oh. I'm kind of babysitting right now, though…"

Babysitting? "You babysit?"

"No. It's complicated. Mom asked, and I couldn't exactly say no to a parent, you know?"

He laughs a bit. "Trust me, I understand that completely. If you manage to get out of it, the shoot should last about three or four hours."

"I'll try! By the way, not to be rude, but how did you get this number?"

Adrien freezes. "Um…" How do you tell a girl you asked your magic kwami to get her number for you? "I got it from a friend."

"Makes sense." He's certain she's smiling. "I'll see if I can get a friend to help with Manon."

"Alright! Don't worry if you can't make it, there'll be other shoots."

"I'll keep that in mind! See you! Hopefully!"

"Here's hoping!"

He hangs up, and lets out a long breath. "Okay…" he glances at the TV. "A… competition?"

"Oh no," Nuru mutters. "He's thinking evil stuff again, isn't he?"

"One of those two girls is going to be crushed in a minute. It'll be so easy…"

"Adrien NO."

"And I mean, neither of them look like they're exactly ostracized, they'll bounce back..."

"Adrien STOP."

"Nuru! Transform me!"

"Come _on…_ "

…

"Thank you _so much_ Alya," Marinette hugs her friend.

"The guy you apparently like now asked you to the park, what kind of friend would I be not to help out?" she smirks as they head to the shoot.

"You're actually the best."

"I know."

She walks into the park to see Adrien running up to the set, and their eyes meet. He waves, grinning widely.

"Wave back!" Alya murmurs.

"I know, I know!" Marinette says out of the corner of her mouth, waving.

"I'll take Manon to the Merry-Go-Round. Go talk to your true love," Alya teases, taking the girl not without some effort.

Marinette carefully walks up to Adrien, face flushed. "Um, hi!"

"I'm glad you could make it," he tells her. "You'll never guess who else showed up for this one!"

"Who?"

"My father."

Her eyes grow wide. "Oh my god."

"I can introduce you, if you like."

"Really?"

He laughs a bit. "Of course. He's my father."

She's about to answer when she hears a scream. "What the-?"

The Merry-Go-Round is encased in ice.

Adrien is internally cursing. Seriously? Out of all places for the akuma to go, it just _had_ to end up in the park!

"That's what you get for making one and letting it run wild," he mutters. Marinette is not listening.

"You need to get out of here, now!" she grabs his arm, pulling him away. After depositing him outside the park, she turns to race back in.

Adrien grabs her arm. "What do you think you're _doing_ Marinette?"

"Alya and Manon are trapped in that ice globe. I've got to help. Don't even _think_ about trying to stop me!" she pulls her arm away and races in.

Adrien transforms as soon as she's out of eyeshot. "Climatica, you _cannot_ attack Marinette."

" **What?"** she asks. " **Why the hell not?** "

"Because you're under _my_ control, got it? Do you want me to prove it to you?"

" **N-no sir, sorry sir!** "

"Good girl."

He sighs, and continues handing out instructions. Setting up an akuma and leaving was a terrible idea in hindsight. It's time for damage control… while causing more damage, of course. He's not letting this one go to waste.

"Time to get those stones."

…

Gabriel transforms quickly, claiming a conference call, which admittedly attracted some odd looks, considering the akuma attack.

The new Ladybug is already there, trying to free the people in the Merry-Go-Round. "Hey, kid, your yo-yo isn't going to work against an akuma barrier, trust me," he says.

"I have to try!"

The yo-yo flies up into the air and hits her in the head. Gabriel gives her a pointed look.

"Okay, okay," she mutters. "Look, my friend's in there, and I left the guy I like just outside the park, can we get this done before they get hurt?"

"That's the plan. My son's here, too, so I have some stake in this as well." And he also would prefer the kid not get hurt, but he knows telling her that will only serve to annoy her.

She smiles. "Good thing we've got it covered then!" And with that, she dashes after the violet-clad akuma, determination and anticipation bright in her eyes.

"She is going to get herself murdered," Gabriel deadpans, before racing after her. "Kid! Wait up! Don't get murdered!"


	6. Chapter 6

Adrien focuses on a plan. This has to be fast, or Marinette's friend and charge are in trouble. How to get to the fight quickly?

"… Reel them in," he mutters. "Climatica, set up a recording. Make it seem like it's being broadcast live from the studio, and wait for them to come rushing in. Then jump them and take the stones. Alright?"

" **Yes, Papillon,** " she replies…

…

Gabriel isn't impressed.

"Sure, make a pageant queen a super villain, why not?" he mutters.

"Pageant queen?" Ladybug looks up at him. "What are you talking about?"

He frowns. "The girl is named Aurore Boreale. She lost the 'Miss Weathergirl' competition this morning."

"You… watch teen beauty pageants?"

He gives her a long look. "No, kiddo, but she was a customer of mine. I guess you could say I wanted to see how my work did."

Ladybug rolls her eyes. "Whatever."

"Don't you 'whatever' me, kid!"

"What. Ever. Old man."

"Old-?!"

He's cut off by a broadcast. Climatica takes up the screen.

" **People of Paris!** "

"That's the Kids+ studio," Gabriel tells Ladybug, who nods.

"Let's go."

…

"C'mon, the video displayed the logo of the studio, why aren't they here yet?" Adrien paces through the studio. Climatica looks annoyed.

" **Okay, you're the worst super villain I've ever seen,** " she mutters. " **And I've seen Team Rocket.** "

"You watched Pokémon?"

" **Um, yes? Like you didn't. I had to do something in between dress fittings and pageants,** " she rolls her eyes. For a moment, she looks almost normal, and so does Adrien, like they're just two kids who were never going to have normal lives, not with their parents, chatting about an anime.

Then Chat Noir breaks down the door below them, and Adrien summons the butterflies to cover him, and runs.

"Where are you, Aurore?" the man calls as Ladybug comes racing behind him.

The door freezes shut behind them without warning.

"It's Climatica, dumbass," she smirks, and with a flick of the parasol, she blasts out the lights, and sends the heroic duo toppling.

…

Marinette stumbles through the dark. "Well this is just great," she groans.

Suddenly, she's being lifted up, and finds herself riding piggyback on Chat Noir.

"Night vision," he says. "Don't worry, little Lady, I've got you."

"Thanks," she says quietly as he starts running up the stairs.

"Of course."

Mr. Noir slams the door open, and lets her off. The akuma has created a cyclone, and seems about to release a hailstorm on Marinette and Mr. Noir, when a dark light envelops her hand, holding it back.

" **No… I… Why would he do** _ **that?**_ **"** she complains, shaking her hand free. " **I can't hurt you, Missy, but I CAN take those earrings!** "

"What the hell?" Marinette mutters.

"Use your Lucky Charm!" Mr. Noir instructs. "Before she gets over whatever's blocking her!"

Marinette nods, and soon a bath towel lands in her hand. "What the…? Oh! Mr. Noir, destroy that sign over there, okay?"

He feels the need to mess her hair up before doing so.

Climatica spins around to see the sign about to crush her, and blasts a hole through it, not noticing the yo-yo circling her leg…

As Marinette opens the towel, yanking her down, her grip on the parasol is lost, and it flies into the waiting claws of Mr. Noir, who is watching Marinette with a proud look.

"You did well, little Lady," he says, tossing her the parasol. She beams, and breaks it over her knee.

"Thanks Mr. Noir!" she purifies the akuma, and watches the little butterfly soar away.

"Do you need me to take you anywhere before the Miraculous wear out?"

"I've got it, thanks," she smiles.

…

After Mr. Noir leaves, she notices a figure watching her. "How do you do that?" he asks.

"What?"

"The plan worked. How did you get her not to attack?" Papillon steps into the light, golden curls and soft violet wings making him look like a fae prince.

Marinette's lips part in shock as he drops down, landing in front of her. "You're…"

"What?"

She shakes her head, snapping out of her reverie. "You're not getting my earrings. I don't know why she didn't attack, some kind of light held her back, looked like it came from you."

"I didn't order her not to attack you," he rolls his eyes. They're a beautiful mix of violet and green, psychedelic almost.

"Yeah. I get that."

"So what did you do?"

She shakes her head. "Look, Papillon, I have to go before I time out, and I'd rather not have to go head to head with another villain in one day. Can we do this another time?"

He looks deep into her eyes, and she nearly loses her breath. He really is beautiful. "Another time then, my Lady." With a bow, white butterflies cover him, and when they clear, he's gone.

…

Adrien sees Marinette dashing into the park, and races up to her. "Are you alright?"

"I… yeah, I'm… I'm fine…" she smiles, and then shakes her head. "Right. Yeah. I'm okay."

"I was worried about you," he tells her, honestly. Sure, he told Climatica not to hurt her, but still, it's Marinette.

She looks up at him. "You don't have to be…"

"I still was."

She laughs, and Adrien feels like he's done something great. "You're kind… and so much better than…" she stops talking and slams a hand over her mouth.

 _Than Papillon,_ she's thinking. Because Adrien's eyes might be green, and not psychedelic, but they're filled with kindness, and so much brighter. Because Adrien would never hurt her. Because even if she can't stop thinking about the Prince of the Butterflies, Adrien will always be better than a beautiful psychopath, in her eyes.

"Thank you," he smiles. "Hey, if you still want to meet my Father, he's here."

"I'd love to!" she beams, and lets Adrien pull her towards a group of men.

"Father?" he asks, and a man in a white suit and red tie turns, and starts at the site of Marinette.

"Adrien, who is this?"

"Marinette Dupain-Cheng is a friend of mine from school," Adrien says calmly.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Marinette," Gabriel Agreste offers a hand.

"A-and you, Mr. Agreste," she shakes his hand nervously.

"How would you like to be in the shoot with my son?" the man asks.

Adrien turns to Marinette, eyes hopeful. "Can you?"

She goes slightly red. "I've never… I mean…"

"Adrien can show you the ropes," Gabriel grins. "The shoot was missing something anyway."

…

The next day, a magazine comes out, and in the latest spread, Marinette Dupain-Cheng is kissing Adrien Agreste's cheek.


	7. Chapter 7

"Oh, c'mon, I'm not so bad," he laughs, and his iridescent eyes glitter, the green and violet swirling through his irises.

She's captivated and horrified at once. "You've been attacking Paris. You… you hurt people! You're awful!"

"That stings, my Lady," he feigns hurt. He takes a step closer. "Won't you at least give me a chance?"

His hair is so golden in the sun, and the wings of his costume flutter slightly, pale lavender with deep indigo markings, and he traces a silken-gloved hand over her cheek, his lips lowering fast…

…

 **BEEP! BEEP!**

Marinette jolts up, shaking, with flaming cheeks. "What the hell?" she mutters. "Stupid fairy boy…"

"Again?" Tikki frowns. "This is getting bad, Marinette."

"I know… He's pretty. You can't deny it," she tries to defend herself.

Tikki gives her a long look. "Prettier than Adrien?"

"No!" She goes bright red. "No, nobody's _prettier_ than Adrien. But… he's kinda close."

The red kwami crosses her arms. "You're having fantasies about your _worst enemy._ "

"No! It's not… It's not _that_ kind of dream! Oh my god, stop."

"Just don't try to kiss him in the next fight, and we should be okay."

"TIKKI!"

"By the way," the kwami continues. "Your friend Alya's blog dedicated to you just updated."

"Her… wait, what?"

Tikki grins.

Marinette dashes to the computer.

…

Adrien Agreste closes down the window, and turns off his computer.

"Something wrong?" Nuru asks.

"I just realized something."

"Uh-huh. And that is?"

"I do _not_ want to know who I've been fighting."

Nuru looks confused. "It would make your evil plan a lot easier."

"It would… but it would also make them real. People that I'm attacking, on purpose, and trying to steal from. I don't want to know. Talking to Ladybug the other day… it wasn't a good feeling," he explains, looking down. "If she really _is_ a high school student, then… well, I don't want to know."

Nuru rolls his eyes. "Um, they _are_ real people that you _are_ hurting, though. And have you seen Ladybug? Noir isn't the youngest, but Ladybug is probably even younger than you are."

"You… you know I don't like this. I can't stop. I have to save her."

"I'm aware of your logic. I don't agree with it, that's all."

There's a knock on the door.

"Hide!" Adrien hisses, and Nuru jumps into his jacket.

Gabriel Agreste seems a bit distracted, but very much annoyed. "Adrien, we're going to the museum."

"… We are?"

Adrien is almost certain he hears his father mutter about "stupid cryptic cats," but that doesn't sound like Gabriel.

Then again, neither does taking a day off to take his son to the museum.

Adrien runs a comb through his (already perfect) hair, grabs his bag with a butterfly, just in case, and gets into the limo.

"So. It's good to see you, Adrien," Gabriel says, awkwardly. "How's school?"

"Great! I love it! Thank you so much for letting me go, Father!" Adrien grins, excitedly.

"You like it that much?" Gabriel raises an eyebrow.

Adrien shrugs. "Well, yeah! I've made friends, Father, and it's just… you have no idea. It's so huge, and open, and I just feel great there!"

"I see." Gabriel has to smile at his son's face. "You know, most kids hate it."

"I am not 'most kids,' Father."

They pull up to the museum, and… why is Adrien staring out the window with _that_ look on his face? Gabriel follows his gaze to land on…

Oh. It's the nice young lady from the photo shoot the other day. And Adrien is staring at her like she hung the moon.

"That girl… Marinette, correct?"

"Yes, Father…" Adrien doesn't pull his gaze away.

"You're in love with her?"

"Yes, Father… I mean!" Adrien snaps out of his trance. "No! I am _definitely_ not in love with her, whoever you were talking to is lying!"

Gabriel's laughing before the sentence is halfway out of Adrien's mouth. "With the way you were looking, I didn't have to talk to anyone."

It's how I looked at Bridgette, is what he doesn't say…

…

" _What's with you, Noir?" the blonde girl glares. "Quit staring, you see me literally every other day."_

" _It's the world's best view, my Queen," he laughs, and offers a red rose._

 _She turns away. "Ugh. Quit it already…"_

 _Gabriel sighs. "Are you ever going to stop hating me?"_

 _She glances over her shoulder. "Who says I hate you? I hate your flirting, not you. I couldn't do this without you, you know." She says it like it's the most obvious thing in the world, and he's an idiot if she has to explain it, but Gabriel is stunned._

" _You mean that?"_

" _Duh, Noir. C'mon, we're partners, idiot… but if you ever bring this up, I'm going to actually throw your ass off the Eiffel tower. Understand, stray?"_

 _He's grinning, and she looks beautiful as she smirks up at him. "Understood, my Queen."_

" _Oh… shut it." This time, though, he can see the pink tinting her cheeks._

…

"Father? Father?"

Gabriel snaps out of his reverie. "Sorry. Just, seeing you falling for that girl made me think of how that felt…"

The smile slips off Adrien's face. "Right. Can we go in now?"

Gabriel nods. "Of course."

…

Marinette is looking at ancient parchment when Adrien comes in with his father. Seeing Adrien's smile in her direction shakes any lingering thoughts of Papillon's eyes from her mind. "Hey, Adrien! Fancy seeing you here!"

"Yeah, it's great to see you, um, are you here for the ancient Egypt exhibition?"

"Yeah! And you?"

"Um…" he glances at his father. "I actually don't know?"

Gabriel frowns. "Um, the Egypt exhibition as well. I think. Yes, that sounds about right."

Marinette grins, and…

Is shoved headfirst into Adrien's arms by a running student, who trips, dropping something that he instantly jumps on.

"Hey!" Adrien glares at the student. "You need to watch where you're going!"

"I'm on the verge of something big, I don't have time for you tiny-minds," he says.

Alya gives him a bitter look. "Ugh. Some people…"

Adrien helps Marinette to her feet. "You alright?"

"I'm fine."

To himself, Adrien thinks that he's definitely found someone who deserves to be akumatized….


	8. Chapter 8

Adrien glances at the boy's back as he rushes up to a man, and starts babbling about a "spell."

"Adrien…? You're looking kinda scary right now…"

His head snaps to Marinette, who's watching him with a concerned expression. "Am I? Sorry. I just _don't_ like people manhandling you, Princess."

She freezes, as does Gabriel. The latter is the first to break the silence. "I thought I raised you to be a bit more original than 'Princess,' Adrien."

Marinette looks down very quickly. "I don't mind."

"What? No! I just-! You never _listen_ to me!" the student shouts at his father, and Adrien sees his opening.

"I have to go, I'll be right back," he tells them, and dashes into the men's room, which is thankfully deserted.

"Adrien, what are you doing?"

He turns to see Nuru floating with arms crossed. "What do you think I'm doing?"

"Missing out on a chance to spend time with the Father you miss terribly and the girl you're interested in?"

The blond boy looks down. "I… That jerk, he deserves this, and he could be a pretty powerful akuma, with all those legends running through his head. I can't waste this opportunity."

"You're making a mistake."

"I know. Have been for a month now, thanks for noticing."

And with those words, he transforms.

…

Marinette wanders down the hall with Alya when she hears a familiar voice… voice that's been in her dreams for the past several nights.

"Can you wait here?" she asks, to which Alya rolls her eyes.

"Girl, when are you going to tell me what you found?"

"Later!"

Marinette runs down the hall, and sees…

Him.

It's actually him.

Standing in the boy's bathroom, with the door wide open.

"… And in return, you will bring me the Miraculous," he finishes the speech, a violet symbol glowing over his eyes, not seeing Marinette. "Oh, and, one more thing: there's a girl here, by the name of Marinette, who you are _not_ to hurt, or I swear I'll make you suffer the worst pain imaginable before leaving you powerless. Understood?"

She blinks.

Did he seriously just tell the akuma not to hurt _her?_

"I'm dreaming," she mutters. "This is _definitely_ a dream."

The mask disappears, and the psychedelic green and violet eyes snap wide open.

For a moment, they stare at each other, caught in a special kind of terror that only occurs when dangerous dreams become a horrifying reality.

"Marinette…"

"What the actual…? Did you just say what I think I heard you say, Papillon?"

He takes a step back. "Um, don't call the police."

She shakes her head, and runs… only to see Alya being literally carried off by a giant monster of an akuma/Egyptian god hybrid.

So. That's what he was talking to.

"Tikki! Spots on!"

…

Gabriel is still searching for his son when the insane girl he's coming to see as his daughter shows up and decides to do battle alone with the most powerful akuma he's ever seen.

He grabs her arm as she races past him. "What are you thinking young Lady? Shouldn't you wait for your partner before leaping headfirst into dangerous situations?"

"He's got a friend of mine," she says simply, shaking him off.

He tightens his grip. "And you're no use to her if you die from being too reckless!"

"With all due respect, Mr. Agreste, I'm a superhero! It's kind of in the job description!"

He shakes his head, letting her go. "Be careful. Understand?"

"Yes Mr. Agreste."

She runs off, and Gabriel takes that as his cue to transform.

"Plagg…"

"Don't worry, Gabe. Your kid's not going to get hurt."

Shaking his head, Gabriel transforms. _Which one?_

…

She's on a roof, surveying the battle, but mostly, her head is spinning.

 _Papillon was in the rest room._

 _Papillon was telling the akuma not to hurt me._

 _He's evil._

 _Like, he is pure evil._

 _But…_

 _If le Papillon in truly evil, why did he protect me?_

 _Well, at least this explains why Climatica couldn't attack me…_

Mr. Noir lands next to her, distracting her from the confusing thoughts running through her head. "Got a strategy get, Little Lady?"

"Um, yes. He's made a bunch of mummies, and is apparently going to sacrifice Alya to an Egyptian sun god… which is insane, but whatever. So, if you can distract them, I'll grab the girl, and that at least gets her out of trouble… or I could distract them, I guess, since-"

"No, that's the dangerous part, so I'm not having a kid- a kid hero, but you admit you're a kid- do it," he cuts her off.

"I'm _not_ a kid…"

"Tenth grade, right?"

"That was… um, the textbook, it's…"

"Don't worry, I want to keep this a secret just as much as you do," he smiles, and heads down to fight mummies.

Marinette leaps down, and grabs Alya, who seems very happy for a girl in the middle of the most dangerous situation she's probably ever been in.

"You okay?" Marinette asks.

"Um… yes? Yes. Okay. Wow. Hi!" Alya beams.

"Look, this fight isn't over. I need you to stay _out of the line of fire,_ got it? That means _no_ jumping in front of attacks for footage," she finishes.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, you've got to break the necklace with Papillon's akuma and turn everything back to normal, right?"

"Necklace?"

"Yeah, I pay attention."

"Thanks Alya! You've been a big help!" Marinette hugs her friend quickly before jumping out to break a jerk's gold necklace.

…

Adrien tries to concentrate on the fight, he really does, but he's not succeeding.

As such, the akuma loses rather quickly.

Detransforming, he lets Nuru drop into his hands. "So you were right. That was a very bad mistake."

"Count your blessings," the kwami smirks. "At least she didn't see you transform."

To this, Adrien rolls his eyes and opens his bag for Nuru to enter, before leaving the restroom…

"You won't believe it! I got _turned into a mummy!"_

He hears the voice before seeing the girl, and drops the bag. "You got _what?"_ he asks, racing up to her, and grabbing her shoulders, checking to see if she's hurt.

"Yeah, and I was nearly sacrificed!" Alya pipes up.

Of course Adrien's aware of this, but he tries to summon up the same horror.

Except, there's something off.

He definitely ordered the akuma not to hurt her, and the akumas can't disobey him. There's no way Marinette got turned into a mummy… but there's no reason for her to lie, either.

So, what's the truth?

"Adrien!"

He turns to see his father coming up to him.

"Where were you? Why didn't you come find me when the monster attacked? Do you have any clue how _worried_ I was?"

"I… I'm sorry?"

"You should be!"

Alya hides a smile, and reaches into her bag… "Wait… where is it?"

Adrien, glad for a distraction, turns to her. "Where's what?"

"The book that Ladybug dropped is gone!"

Adrien notices Marinette's half-grin (mostly because of how cute it is) when she replies, "How strange."

He brushes it off, of course. Surely, it doesn't mean a thing…

…

"Why did she say she got mummified?" he asks Nuru later that night. "It's not possible… is it?"

"It's not possible for an akuma to disobey a direct order, and you were pretty clear," the violet kwami agrees. "However, I don't have any idea why she'd lie… unless she's hiding something, of course."

"Stop. Right there. I want you to stop. If she has a secret… It's hers. I want nothing to do with it."

"But you want something to do with her, right?"

Adrien flicks off the light, and hits the bed without answering. No answer is necessary. They both know it.


	9. Chapter 9

Marinette's on autopilot as she purifies the latest akuma, and it's obvious. It's also becoming clearer and clearer with each fight that Papillon's orders protect her completely… well, clear to her. Mr. Noir maintains that it's just dumb luck that she doesn't get herself killed every other fight.

Speaking of Mr. Noir…

"Young Lady, where do you think you're going?"

She rolls her eyes, and turns to face her partner (well, more like second father, not that she needs another one). "Home, duh?"

"Don't take that tone with me!" he crosses his arms. "You were far too reckless in this battle!"

"I knew what I was doing, Mr. Noir," she frowns. "I'm fine. Really."

"You are _this_ time, but what about next time you jump into a blast? You're lucky the akuma got tripped up, or you'd be-"

"Fine. Like always. See you!"

With that, Marinette gives a quick salute and races across the rooftops, landing on her balcony and detransforming with a smile.

"Isn't it a beautiful night?" she sighs.

"Morning."

"What?" Marinette looks at the tiny kwami on her shoulder. "Tikki, what do you mean?"

"It's four in the morning, Marinette. You were out way too late!"

The girl in question rushes inside, and spying a clock, finds that yeah, Tikki was right.

"Well. Shit."

"Don't swear, Marinette!"

…

Adrien collapses into bed, exhausted. "Well. This is just great. Hey, Nuru, how much longer before I actually win a single fight?"

"Depends. How much longer until you stop being a crazy necromancer and actually use the Miraculous for its intended purpose?"

"After I save my Mom."

The kwami crosses his arms. "You don't want to win anyway, unless you win it all. If you just defeat the heroes, your damage will last. You're insane, like, _really, really insane,_ but you're not a bad person. Well, sort of. And you don't want to hurt anyone."

"Yeah, yeah, you're right. But this _is_ getting hard. I mean, it's a good thing I don't have school tomorrow…"

"You have the race though, in the morning!"

"Race…?"

"Yeah! You said you'd be there to watch those kids from your class compete after your girlfriend said she'd make a banner, remember?"

"She's not my girlfriend! Well, yet…" Adrien shakes his head. "I better get some sleep."

Nuru smirks. "You're not getting any sleep until I get fed, Adrien!"

"C'mon, I'll feed you in the morning…"

"You'll feed me right now!"

With a long-suffering sigh, Adrien pushes himself out of bed, and heads off to feed his kwami.

 _This is going to be murder in the morning…_

…

It is.

It really is.

As he carefully conceals the rings under his eyes, his body aches from sheer exhaustion.

The only reason he's not sleeping is because… well, Marinette. As dumb as it sounds, he puts seeing her way above sleeping, as far as priorities go.

So he finishes the makeup, with the expertise of a professional model, and...

Well.

The room is filled with butterflies. It's beautiful, with the multicolored wings flitting through the air, but… well, it can't be left like this!

He transforms quickly, and sends the butterflies into his backpack, throwing it over his shoulder, and releasing the transformation.

"You're late," Nuru informs him.

"I had no idea," Adrien mutters, racing out the door.

When he gets to the race, Marinette's already there, with the banner. As soon as their eyes meet, she turns away very quickly.

Adrien walks up to her quickly. "I'm sorry I'm late… are you angry?"

She looks at him, confused. "What? No, I, um… well, you see…"

"Hold this."

Alix shoves a watch into Marinette's hand. "Wait! The banner…" Alix is already gone.

Adrien isn't sure he follows what happens in the next few minutes, but in the end, Chloé somehow gets her hands on the watch, and breaks it.

And… well, this is kind of perfect, isn't it?

"Adrien…? You have a kinda creepy look on your face, are you okay?"

He shakes his head, looking at Marinette. "Come with me real quick? This seems like breeding grounds for an akuma, and I'd rather you not be caught up in it if that happens."

She stares at him for a moment, slightly red. "Um… okay…"

As he takes her hand, pulling her out of the courtyard, Marinette is internally screaming.

There's definitely something off about Adrien. If she wasn't so exhausted, she might be able to place it, but even as it is, she can tell it's there.

He smiles as soon as they're out of the courtyard, and…

"I have to go, um, don't move?"

He races off, leaving her standing there. Okay, yeah, there's something very weird going on with Adrien.

…

Nuru gives a long look. "You're literally exhausted, Adrien. It's messing up your judgment. A lot. I'm pretty sure your girlfriend thinks you're out of your mind right now. If you make an akuma right now, I guarantee you'll lose control."

"Oh, give it a rest, you always try to convince me it's a bad idea."

"This time I'm right, Adrien! Look, this isn't the first time I've been misused, okay? And if you make an akuma, and lose control, people could _die._ "

"I don't believe you!"

"Adrien…"

"Nuru! Transform me!"


	10. Chapter 10

Marinette looks after where Adrien went, confusion and worry clouding her mind.

"Tikki?"

"Yes, Marinette?"

"What do you think of Adrien?"

The kwami crosses her arms, thinking. "He's a nice guy, and he's better that you lusting after Papillon-"

"I do NOT lust after Papillon!"

"That's good to know."

She spins around, and… well. There he is.

He really is handsome, with his wings fluttering gently, and the soft messy curls, and those mirth-filled green and violet eyes. Even his costume had the look of a prince…. _Snap out of it Marinette!_

"So, you don't lust after me, and you feel the need to randomly declare that?" he laughs, and it's a beautiful laugh, the kind of laugh you'd expect to hear from an angel, not a sociopathic jackass who was clearly insane. "You know, with the way you're looking at me, I'd be inclined to think otherwise."

She shakes her head. "Okay, no, no, you're crazy. You messed with my friends! Alya nearly died a few days ago because you thought it would be a good idea to make an all-powerful Egyptian-God akuma!"

He looks down, and she is so screwed, because the way he bites his lip is just… he _looks_ perfectly innocent. The fact that he really, really isn't is the only thing that keeps her from apologizing for yelling and hugging him.

"Well, in my defense, she kinda jumped into the middle of the attack as fast as she could. And I heard you got mummified, but I promise, I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I mean, I think you heard…" he twists his brooch awkwardly, and suddenly his eyes go huge, and why, why are they so big and pretty? "Oh no, I totally forgot, I just made a really powerful akuma and should probably be controlling that!"

There's the non-innocence. "You messed with Alix, didn't you?"

"Kind of, yes."

She groans, exhausted. "Did you _have_ to?"

"Kind of, yes. Look, stay here, please? I'd really rather you didn't get hurt."

She isn't sure how to respond to that. 'Um, no, actually you really want me to get hurt?' Finally, she settles on, "Just order it not to hurt me again. That worked oh so well before."

"My orders aren't entirely absolute, Pr- Marinette."

"Then how about this? Call off the akuma."

He frowns, and for a moment, he actually looks like he's considering it. "Well… I am kind of exhausted… Maybe this one wasn't the best idea."

Wait, is he actually going to call it off?

"Timebreaker," he calls, and the symbol flickers over his eyes. "Timebreaker…?" It fades away. "Oh no. Nuru warned me about this…"

She looks at him, and sees absolute panic. "What is it? What's going on, Papillon?"

"I… I've lost control… She's gone on a rampage…"

"What?!"

"I spent so much time without giving her proper orders, talking with you, that she just… severed the connection. And I didn't notice," he says, turning to her, eyes huge and terrified. _"I can't call her off."_

…

Gabriel Agreste wakes to Plagg screaming in his ear. "Gabe! Gabe, wake up, Papillon lost control, and oh my cheese this is really, really bad!"

Gabriel leaps out of bed, not even bothering to throw on clothes. "Plagg! Transforme moi!"

There's a flash, and a transformation sequence later Mr. Chat Noir is jumping out the window, heading to the park, and…

Is that le Papillon hitting on his son's girlfriend?

How dare he?

He drops down to the two teenagers. "You'd better run, butterfly boy, or I promise you'll be serving 25 to life in a high security prison by sundown."

The criminal nods, and as he raises his hand, a swarm of butterflies in all colors overtakes him, and when they clear, he's gone.

And the girl seems to be in awe.

Well, before she shakes it off and looks up at him. "Thanks Mr. Noir. See you!" she calls, running off in the opposite direction of the park… which leads him to go into the park, where dying children litter the air, fading away slowly, and a madwoman cackles on rollerblades.

"The energy! It's almost enough to…" she stops, noticing him. "Well, well, well! You'd probably appreciate a time-warp yourself, wouldn't you, old man?"

"Old man?!"

"Mr… Noir…"

He looks down to see a young girl, reaching for him.

"Help… us…"

With those words, she collapses, fading into nothing.

"I will," he vows. "No more shall die tonight, and the one responsible for this monster _will_ pay."

…

The one responsible for creating the monster stood over the building roof, fighting complete horror. "How do I fix this…? There's got to be a way to fix this! I can't be responsible for someone's death!"

"Tikki!"

His head jerks to the wall outside. What's she yelling now?

"Transforme moi!"

… Wait.

No.

That can't be possible!

"No…"

Ladybug –Ladybug who is also Marinette, the girl he loves is the girl he's been trying to kill- looks up, and freezes in shock.

"Well. This can't be good," she murmurs.

"… Marinette?"

She shakes her head, and races into the park, yo-yos at the ready…

It's not an equal fight in any way. Adrien can see it. Anyone could see it. She can't touch Timebreaker, or her energy will be destroyed…

She falls to her knees, and it's a split-second decision.

He flies down, and spreads his wings over her, just as a hand slams into his chest.

…

She opens her eyes to see two huge, diamond-like, dragonfly wings hovering over her.

They begin to flicker very quickly.

He turns, and the wings fold down over his back. "I love you. Forgive me," he whispers, kneeling down and pressing his lips to hers.

The kiss is incredible, both soft and cool, and her hand cups his face gently. A tear hits her hand, and she's not sure if he's crying or she is, but won't break the kiss to check.

All too soon, he fades into nothing.


	11. Chapter 11

She's left in a state of complete shock.

"Did… did he just…?"

"Get up, kid!" Mr. Noir yells, grabbing her hand and yanking her to her feet. "Did you honestly just make out with that… that _terrorist?"_

"He just… he just died for me… oh my god…"

"They're not dead. Not… not quite. That akuma uses energy to manipulate time. If you can catch her on the way back, you can prevent this from ever happening. And I'll never have to see you all over Mr. I-Want-To-Destroy-All-Of-Paris."

"Oh, can it, I can kiss who I feel like, if Batman can date Cat woman, I can kiss Papillon!"

"And I do not have to know about it. I don't want my kid kissing an evil butterfly boy."

"Since when am I your kid?"

"Since you decided to-"

"YES!"

They both turn to see Timebreaker, glowing with energy.

"Now!" Mr. Noir shouts, and Marinette dashes, grabbing the Akuma's shoulder, and in a flash of light…

She stands on the top of the wall, looking down at herself.

"Chloé! Drop the watch!" she calls.

Chloé does so.

Hard.

"… Well, shit."

She watches as Adrien yanks her away, acting just as strange as she recalls.

"I like some strange men…"

She frowns, and runs off to get herself.

"I do N-"

"DON'T say it," she slams a hand over her own mouth.

Past-Marinette pulls away. "Who are you?"

"Um… Papillon can hear us talking, so I can't say. But I'm from a future where he loses control of the akuma because he was flirting with you, and many people die."

Adrien hears this, and his eyes go huge.

"The akuma. Concentrate on it. Right."

…

The two Ladybugs are warmly received by Mr. Noir ("Yes! More children!"), and the fight is over relatively quickly.

As the two Ladybugs collide, Marinette can only think of that kiss… what it meant…

Papillon is a terrible person.

He's her enemy.

So why, when it came down to it, did he save her and say he loved her?

"Boys are so, so confusing," she tells Mr. Noir.

"Oh? How so?" he grins. "Does the little Lady have a little Laddie?"

She groans, turning away. "That's awful, Mr. Noir."

"No, no, I want to hear all about this boy!"

"… Boys. Plural."

"… I'm going to recharge, and then we are going to have a Talk about your dating habits, Young Lady."

"What? But…"

"I mean it."

She sighs, and heads to grab a cookie for Tikki.

She runs smack into Adrien.

"Oh! A-Adrien…" she blushes, guilt written clearly across her face. "Sorry, I, um, didn't see you…"

"It's fine! Um, are you okay, Princess? You look great, I mean…"

"I'm fine!"

He rubs the back of his neck. "Um, so… see, I was just wondering… There's this movie premier thing, and I have an extra ticket, and was thinking you might want to come with me? As friends, I mean!"

"I-I'd love to!"

"Wait, really?"

"Yeah!"

"Great!"

Marinette is blushing brilliantly, and Adrien seems very red himself by the time Marinette remembers Mr. Noir is waiting for her.

"I have to go my… mentor is waiting for me."

"Mentor?"

"That's the best word I can use to describe him."

Adrien nods. "Well, see you Friday!"

"See you!"

She races off to transform… and have what promises to be an incredibly awkward conversation.

…

Adrien sighs, smiling widely.

"She said she'd love to, Nuru…"

"Clearly, the 'Princess' has no taste."

"Oh, shut it."

"Adrien, we need to have a talk. Now."

He sighs, and sits down. "Yeah, I know."

"You almost lost control of the akuma."

"I did."

"In another timeline, you did, and people DIED, Adrien!"

Adrien rests his head in his hands. "I… I know. I made a mistake. You warned me. I was tired and not thinking. That can't happen, ever."

Nuru nods. "You need to stop misusing the stones before somebody gets seriously hurt, Adrien."

"I can't stop."

"You can stop at any time, Adrien! Ladybug and Mr. Noir would forgive you, and you could redeem yourself completely! You wouldn't go to jail, and you would get to be a superhero, like was intended! Just like all those cartoons you like! You could be a hero, Adrien, so why are you acting like you don't get a choice in the matter?"

"Because… I… you don't understand." He pulls his knees in, wrapping his arms around them. "Things used to be different in my house. You know? When Mom was around, Dad wasn't so harsh all the time. I used to be treated like a kid instead of some valuable glass sculpture. And we would have dinner together, every night. Then, she died, and I watched as Dad just… stopped. He tried for a little while, but everything just fell apart, and… and if I bring her back, everything will go back. He'll be my dad again, and she won't be gone. And everything will be okay.

"Plus, it was the Miraculous that got her killed. My mom was Ladybug, the last Ladybug. She died because she was fighting for those stones. So those stones owe me. I'm just taking back what they stole."

Nuru is very quiet. "Just… don't akuma drunk or overtired again, okay?"

Adrien nods. "Alright."

…

"So, two boys?"

"Yes."

"And one of them is a nice boy from your class who asked you to the movies."

"Mm-hm."

"That's fine. But the other one is a psycho who you think is hot and took what amounts to a bullet for you in an alternate timeline, but also attacks you. And is Papillon."

"… Yep."

"Okay, I see how the second one could appeal to a teenager. You do, however, realize that it's really not okay, correct?"

"… Well…"

"… Dammit, kid!"

"What do you want from me? I'm a teenage girl, and he's a hot guy who kissed me and saved my life!"

"He's insane!"

"I know!"

"Kid, c'mon, please make smart choices…"

"Whatever, Dad."


	12. Chapter 12

She sketches absentmindedly, not thinking too much about what she's drawing, as the teacher talks.

"The competition will be judged my Gabriel Agreste," she announces. "And the theme will be… derby hats. The winning design will be worn by-"

"Just me, don't get too excited," Adrien cuts in, smiling slightly.

Marinette frowns slightly.

"Derby hats…?"

Alya leans across the desk. "Um, that doesn't look like a derby hat. Is that…? Oh my god, Marinette, you creep!" she laughs. "Is that Adrien? What is he _wearing?"_

She looks down at the picture. Big round eyes, golden curls, and an intriguing smile might make the image resemble Adrien… but the winged mask, dark violet tuxedo jacket and dress pants with what she knows to be gold accents, white dress gloves, and draped wings are nothing Adrien would wear. Ever.

"It's not Adrien," she mutters. "It's just… um…"

"Tell me!"

Adrien himself seems to have heard, as he turns around, resting an elbow on Marinette's side of the desk. "I want to see this drawing of definitely-not-me," he smirks. "If you'll allow it?"

Cheeks flaming, she turns the sketchbook around. "Fine, but only look at that page. It's not all stuff I want to share."

He looks down, and his eyes widen. "W-what? This is…" he looks up, and for a split second, Marinette swears she sees terror in his eyes. "… Incredible," he finishes, finally. "Princess, you're really talented!"

She looks up, blushing. "Y-you really think so?"

"You're going to win. I'm calling it now. Oh, um, by the way, we still on for Friday?"

"… Friday?"

"The movie premier…" he raises one eyebrow slightly.

"Oh! Yes! Definitely! Absolutely!" she beams. So she really didn't imagine him asking her to go!

"Great!" he grins. "Hey… um, whoever this person is… is he someone you're, um… romantically interested in? Just curious!"

Alya laughs at this. "You two are way too obvious, you know that? No subtlety here. Ever."

"Well, is he?" Adrien looks up, green eyes stirring with emotion, barely covered by a layer of calm.

"He… um… I don't know, really, he's kind of... I mean, he's nice…"

The bell rings, and Adrien gets up. "Well, you really do have a lot of talent, Princess. Good luck!"

…

"She was drawing Papillon!" he tells Nuru excitedly. "As in, me! And she drew me pretty!"

"And you weren't obvious about that at all…" the kwami drawls, voice dripping with sarcasm.

He sighs, striding along the steps of the school. "She might actually not hate him! I mean, me-slash-him. I mean, I know she doesn't hate Adrien-me, or she wouldn't have agreed to the movie, but this means that she also thinks Papillon-me is at the very least attractive, right?"

Nuru sighs. "Adrien."

"Yes?"

"You're a model. As in, you are paid to be aesthetically pleasing. And you're good at it. Also, the butterfly miraculous usually- with one or two exceptions- makes the wielder look like fae royalty. Papillon is psychotic, but kid, he's not going to be exactly ugly."

"Well… that's good, I guess!" he smiles, dreamily. "Maybe… I can't tell anyone my secret, or I'll go to jail at the very least… but maybe she'd keep it a secret?"

"By all means, tell her. Tell everyone. Tell the police, I'm sure they can be trusted. I'd be very happy to go to someone less crazy."

Adrien sighs. "Yeah, yeah…" he crosses in front of the Trocadéro… and is promptly hit in the head by a crumpled piece of paper.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry!" Marinette jumps up, coming over quickly, forcing Nuru to race to hide in Adrien's jacket. "Are you okay?"

"Um, yeah, I'm fine," he smiles slightly, reaching down and taking the paper, un-crumpling it. The paper holds a design for a derby hat with several large black lines scribbled through it. "Having artist's block?"

"Kind of yes exactly," she looks down. "Nothing works, and… you probably don't want to hear me complain about my own lack of creativity."

"What are friends for?" he smiles. "Tell me about it, if you want."

She smiles, slightly. "Thanks… it's just, I've never thought of making a derby hat before, I have designs for literally anything else, bowler, baseball cap, hell, I even made a sombrero once, but somehow I missed derby hats entirely, and I can't find anything to be inspired by, and it doesn't even matter because I'm probably just going to end up tripping over the stupid hat and wrecking some huge display or something and then you'll hate me and I'll never be able to design anything again!"

Adrien is unsure how to respond to this. There are actual tears threatening to spill from her eyes, and she's clearly panicking…

"Okay, Princess," he takes her shoulders, looking her in the eye. "First off, I am never going to hate you, so get that idea out of your head. Now, yes, I agree that derby hats are kind of dumb, and not very interesting most of the time, but if anyone can make one look good, it's you. You make your own clothes, right? And you look amazing," he says, and then realizing what he just told her, he goes bright red. "And for the record, I'll be at the competition, and if it looks like you're going to trip, I promise I'll catch you, okay?"

She bites her lip, looking up at him. "You promise?"

"I do."

She smiles slightly, and jumps up to hug him tightly. "Thank you, Adrien!"

He laughs slightly, wrapping his arms around her. "Of course, Marinette."

"Hey! You! You're not supposed to be here!"

The two teenagers turn to see a police officer yelling at a man for feeding the pigeons.

"But if I don't feed them, who will?"

"Hopefully? Nobody. They're vermin. Get out of the park or I'll call security… oh! Wait! I am security! Get out!"

The man sighs, looking down as he leaves, and the pigeons scatter, leaving feathers everywhere.

"Well, that was awfully rude of him," Marinette murmurs. "That poor man must be feeling awful…" She reaches down, lifting a feather. "But…" a little smile makes its way onto her face, and suddenly, her eyes are glowing with excitement. "Adrien, I've got it! I know what to do! I might need a lot of feathers though…"

"Leave that to me," he tells her, looking after the man. "I think I might have a way to get you a surplus…"


	13. Chapter 13

"Marinette?"

"Yes, Tikki?"

"Your boyfriend's kind of crazy. You notice that?"

She bites back a smile. "He's… definitely a little off sometimes… but in a really great way. He… he _cares_ , you know? He cares that I'm happy, and I don't know if it's romantic or friendship, but it's definitely there. He's genuinely kind…"

Tikki beams. "So you're definitely choosing Adrien over Papillon then?"

"Definitely," she affirms, nodding.

…

Adrien is currently standing over the city, holding a blue butterfly in on hand, its wings fluttering softly.

"Complete the mission," he whispers, stroking darkness into the wings, and blue is infused with a dark shade of violet.

The man's whistle is an obvious choice of object. The connection is quick.

"Hey, Mr. Pigeon? My name is Papillon. You've probably heard of me."

The man nods. "You… you make people monsters."

"I don't. I make contracts for power. You look like you could use some right now. I can help you… I just really need the miraculous. It's a simple enough deal. Will you help me?"

He shivers with anger. "You know what? Fine. They deserve it. Yes, Papillon, I accept your offer."

"Thank you."

The akuma takes him over quickly. Adrien smiles as the connection strengthens. The man's emotions are much more kind and hopeful than any he's felt so far. Here's a man who he won't feel bad about giving power to, a man who won't abuse it more than he has to for his birds to be safe, and to complete the contract of course.

…

Marinette lifts a feather, excitedly.

"This is going to look so amazing!" she beams… and suddenly: screaming!

She looks up to see the park ranger being carried through the air by a cloud of pigeons.

"How. How is this my life?"

Sighing, and pocketing the feather, she races to transform.

The pigeons flood the streets in less than five minutes, and by the time Marinette has become Ladybug, a newscast is going around about the danger of the latest akuma. For some reason, this one is actually somewhat dangerous, even if all he can do is… control pigeons.

…

Gabriel stares blankly at the newscast.

"Pigeons. That bratty kid made an akuma who controls _pigeons._ And named him 'Mr. Pigeon.' What is _wrong_ with today's youth?" he groans.

"Oh, please, like you were any better, Mr. I'm-Gonna-Tear-This-Girl's-Heart-Out-So-I'm-Free-To-Kiss-This-Other-Girl-Oops-They're-Both-Bridgette."

He frowns. "Don't bring that up."

"You really ripped into her, remember? That time you called her 'Baby' in front of all those people and then said she was a nut job when she asked about it? Or that time-"

"I was fifteen! We ended up married, it's not like I was always horrible," he mutters. "And she's gone now, so it doesn't really matter, now does it?" He bites his inner cheek, hard, trying- and failing- to keep the hoarse out of his voice.

Plagg folds his arms. "Gabe, she's not… look, you have a job to do right now. We're going to discuss this later though."

"Discuss what?" he snaps.

"Gabe… Bridgette isn't dead."

Gabriel's eyes widen. "Plagg!"

"Yeah?"

"Transforme moi!"

The transformation is fast, and to the point, and Gabriel leaps out the window, mind reeling.

 _Bridgette isn't dead._

 _Bridgette isn't dead._

The words pound in his mind, over and over. How would that even be possible? She blew up. Adrien saw it! And if she weren't gone, why wouldn't she be there, with her family who needed her so desperately? The Bridgette he knew would never, in a million years, just leave. She'd go through hellfire to get back to the people she loved…

"Mr. Noir! Hi! Um, you know what to do about the whole pigeon thing?"

He looks up, and there's the Little Lady, arms folded, smiling at him.

"You look happy, kid. What happened?"

"Ad- Um, the guy from my class helped me out. He was really nice, and… well… oh my god I just love him! He's basically perfect!" she gushes.

"Good to hear," Gabriel smirks. His bug daughter is absolutely adorable sometimes.

"Anyway, I have an idea for how to get out hands on the akuma. So, he's going after park rangers, right? So I was thinking…"

And that is how Gabriel Agreste ends up dressed like a cat dressed like a park ranger, waiting for a flock of pigeons to kidnap him.

"This has got to be one of the strangest days of my life. And trust me when I say I've had a surplus of those," he comments.

"Act natural already!" she complains from the bushes.

"I'm wearing a hat. The rest of the outfit is a literal cat suit. I think 'natural' was already tossed out the window," he complains.

Suddenly, he feels feathers. Great. He's being carried off by birds, and it sounds like the Little Lady is too.

"Hey! Get your beaks off the outfit!" she complains, loudly. By the time they're placed down and the birds dissipate, a cage is enclosing them.

"What. The. Fu- Heck," he corrects himself mid-word, glancing at the girl.

"You can curse, Mr. Noir, I'm in the tenth grade," she tells him.

"So is my son, and he's never cursed in his life!"

"Somehow I doubt that."

"Ahem!"

They stop bickering and jerk up to look at the pink and grey bedecked man, standing on a platform of pigeons.

"Thank you for your attention. I'm Mr. Pigeon. Hand over your Miraculous… or else."

The birds turn, and… Ah, god that's revolting.

"Um, Mr. Noir?"

"Yeah, Little Lady?"

"Now would be a great time to use cataclysm."

"Agreed."

Destroying the cage, the duo attack, and… well, the villain just jumps off the side of the building they're standing on.

"This is an extremely annoying man," Gabriel sighs. "Your other boyfriend is not normal."

The kid goes bright red. "He's… really attractive…"

"Yes, threatening that is extremely attractive."

"With all due respect, Mr. Noir?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

He laughs. "Sure, kid. As soon as you stop crushing on crazies."

"Shut up!"


	14. Chapter 14

The heroes race down the stairs, finding themselves in the lobby of a hotel… that of André Bourgeois, to be exact.

"Ah! Ladybug! Mr. Noir! What can we do to help you rid us of these pesky pigeons?"

The kid folds her arms, frowning.

Gabriel cuts in. "Mr. Bourgeois, I'm afraid I'm currently running low on power. I'd like to request some Camembert to charge my stone, and a private room. No cameras."

André cocks his head, brow furrowing. "Ah… yes, right away Mr. Noir… forgive me, do I know you?"

"I am not at liberty to say," Gabriel frowns. "May I please recharge now?"

"Yes, yes, of course! Escort this man to a room, and bring him some of our finest Camembert!"

Gabriel is brought up to a room, and just manages to slam the door before detransforming.

Plagg drops into his hands. "You better have some really good cheese after Cataclysm-ing an entire iron cage, Gabe."

"Yep," the man grins, lifting the lid off the dish. "Eat up, the fight's far from over."

The kwami is very quick to do so.

"By the way… about what you said earlier…"

"Figures you're being calm about this. You never were one to have ordinary human emotions," Plagg sneers.

"You're trying to get a rise out of me. I recognize that, and don't appreciate it," Gabriel frowns.

"Anyway, yeah. Tikki and I feel when a user dies. She hasn't yet. I don't know where she is or why the girl who stalked you for several years and finally married you left, but her heart's still beating, I can promise."

Gabriel tries to keep his face blank. "She's alive."

"That's what I just said."

"But… Adrien saw…"

"Don't you have an akuma to catch? I don't have answers to everything, Gabe."

"Of course," he nods. "Plagg! Transforme moi!"

…

Adrien isn't really paying attention to the akuma. He's connected, of course, but this one doesn't seem to be that dangerous. The emotions clearly weren't as strong as some of the others.

So he stands in an alley, just out of the way of the public eye, bored. Eventually, he finds himself tapping his foot… which becomes a moonwalk… and then a Gangnam Style dance…

"… Papillon?"

He turns, and his eyes go very wide. "Lady Luck?"

"Are you… dancing?"

He grins. "Indeed I am. I didn't realize I was being watched. You stalking me, Lucky?"

She actually blushes. "N-no! It's just not what I imagine a psychotic evil super villain doing!"

Well, that's actually a little offensive.

"First off, not psychotic," he says, striding up to her, and holding up one finger. "Second, not evil, just desperate." He raises another finger.

Her face is nearly as red as her costume, and Adrien grins, recalling what Nuru said about Papillon's appearance. Clearly, it affects Ladybug.

"Third," he grins, "even if I was, you don't seem to mind. Nice costume, but it certainly doesn't hide much… and I know it isn't cold out."

She begins stammering, and he can't help but laugh a bit. "That's disgusting! Y-you're insane! And even if you're pretty, you're not a good guy! And… um…" He moves closer, and she stops talking, obviously attracted. "Y-you can't dance!" she finishes, pushing him away.

He can't help but laugh. Okay, maybe that last comment was pushing it. A lot. Actually, yeah, that last comment is not something he should ever say again, because it was really bad. But she's making it so easy!

"I can dance just fine. Now, Lady Luck, if you're here to give me those earrings…"

"You don't even have pierced ears!"

"I do, actually," he grins. "My dad works in fashion, so…"

She frowns. "I'm out. And I'm not into you." With those words, she grapples the building next to her, and flies off.

Adrien is left with the incredibly interesting knowledge that Lady Luck had a crush on him.

…

Marinette is still reeling from the moment with Papillon when Mr. Noir shows up next to her.

"I know that look," he mutters. "Which one of your boyfriends gave it to you this time?"

"The one you hate," she says, embarrassed. "He… um… commented on my chest. I think."

"He WHAT?"

"I think he commented on my chest."

"That's…" Mr. Noir is left speechless. "That's really not okay."

"I think he figured that out after he said it. He was kinda blushing a lot after it."

"Great. I'm going to get this guy sent to jail, you know that?"

"Yeah. Anyway, I think I figured out where Mr. Pigeon is," she tells him, pointing to a domed roof as pigeons enter through the windows.

Her partner/mentor nods, and they race up to the widow, bursting in… and who knew a window opening could echo so much?

Mr. Pigeon's head jerks up, and the fight begins.

The pigeons attack quickly, and send the heroes crashing to the ground. Swarming around in a circle, Mr. Noir looks over his shoulder. "Hey, Little Lady? You've got a Lucky Charm, right?"

She nods, activating Lucky Charm quickly, and a coin lands in her hand. "A coin…" she glances around, and smiles. "I got this."

She wraps her yo-yo around a support beam, and breaks through the pigeons, vaulting up towards a vending machine, and with a lucky throw, she sends the coin in, buying a bag of popcorn.

Seeing the bag tossed in the air, Mr. Noir realizes the plan, and swings his baton, breaking the bag open, and spilling the popcorn over Mr. Pigeon.

The pigeons swarm.

"Nice hit, Mr. Noir!"

"Thanks, kid!"

Swinging her yo-yo around his leg, Marinette yanks Mr. Pigeon down, grabbing and breaking his whistle.

…

Adrien sighs, detransforming. Nuru is giving him a very annoyed look.

"What part are you mad about?"

"That comment you made."

"She called me psychotic and evil!"

"… Still."

"I'm not going to do it again, okay?" he sighs. "I'm going to go see how Marinette's doing with that Derby hat."

He runs into her just outside the alley.

"Adrien!"

"Princess! What are you doing here?"

"Oh! Um… I was kinda caught up in the akuma attack, you?"

 _What?_

He knows she can't have been hurt by the akumas… What's more, this akuma couldn't even hurt anyone! Well, except a few rangers. Even the heroes were only mildly threatened…

"So… you need a hand finishing the hat?"

She looks up, surprised. "You'd be willing to help me?"

"I'd love to," he smiles.

Making a hat turns out to be harder work than he anticipated, but seeing Marinette designing is an experience that more than pays off the work.

Walking her to the competition isn't too bad either.

…

Gabriel strides into the room, and looks over the hats, exhausted. None of these stand out…

And then, he finds one made of pigeon feathers.

"This is very well made," he comments. "Which one of you made this?"

"That's Marinette's!" his son speaks up, gently pushing her up toward him. "You remember her from the museum, right?"

"Ah, of course. You certainly have talent, Miss Marinette. I'd say this is worthy of being worn on the runway."

The girl's eyes widen, and she beams. "Really?"

"Of course. In any case, I have an appointment. But good luck, I'm sure you have a promising career ahead of you."

"Thank you, Mr. Agreste!"

As he walks out the door, Gabriel sees her hugging his son, and can't help a small smile.


	15. Chapter 15

Adrien smiles as he slides a note to the desk behind him.

As the girl seated behind him unfolds it, he hears a giggle, and finds it thrown over his head back to the desk.

'You're ready for tomorrow right?'

'I've been ready, prettyboy. You're the scared one. I'd almost think you were making this a date.'

He goes bright red and raises his hand. "Um, may I please be excused?" he asks, voice shaking slightly.

"What, did I alarm you?" she whispers in his ear. His face brightens even more at this.

"Fine, fine," the teacher mutters. "I swear, though, the next distraction… Nathanaël!"

The redhead jerks up from his notebook to see their teacher at the end of her rope, glaring at him.

"Y-yes Mme.?"

"Why don't you bring that sketchbook to the office and share what exactly is more important that your studies?"

"B-but…"

"Mr. Kurtzberg…"

He looks down and meekly starts his way to the front of the class… and falls flat on his face, sending his notebook flying in front of Adrien.

"Is that…?" Adrien stares at the sketch of his Princess, HIS Princess, staring adoringly up at what appears to be a superhero artist.

"It's Marinette! Check it out, loser love!" Chloe laughs, pointing to the sketch. Adrien's fist clenches as Nathanaël grips his sketchbook to his chest and races out of the classroom. How dare he? How dare that… that _idiot_ even dare look at HIS Princess?

Adrien slowly strides out of the room, a hand resting on his bag. As the door closes behind him, Nuru pops out.

"Adrien. Please."

"He's in pain because he was lusting after Marinette. He deserves this."

"And how exactly do you plan to give him what he wants, Adrien? The akuma is a contract. You can't lie to him…" the kwami shrinks back from Adrien's glare.

"Nuru. Transforme moi."

As the beautiful butterflies of every color swarm around him, Adrien knows he looks angelic, and smiles slightly. He's far more attractive than that _tomato_. And maybe, with the akuma… he can show Marinette exactly how much of a psychotic creep that kid is. After the competition is eliminated, he can try to grab the Miraculous, and probably fail again, but that's not the point, not this time.

A voice in the back of Adrien's head whispers the word 'yandere,' but he brushes off the idea quickly. He's just trying to protect her, yeah. It's just because that kid is in no way good enough for her. It's not stalking. He's not a stalker. He's just getting rid of the hypotenuse before a little love triangle ends up forming…

As the connection forms he forces such thoughts to the back of his mind. "Hello, Evillistrator. I am le Papillon."

…

Marinette is in the library when the giant hairdryer shows up to attack Chloe.

"I wondered how long that would take," she mutters, brushing her bangs out of her eyes. "Tikki, do your stuff."

In a flash of light, Ladybug stands in the library, and jumps into action against the hairdryer… wow, never thought she'd be able to say that seriously. Wrapping her yo-yo around it, she jumps on, grappling with it as her partner/dad rushes in.

"Sorry I'm late, Little Lady, I only just got the memo," he explains.

"Never mind that, help me!"

The man nods, and in a quick maneuver, destroys the hairdryer.

"How…?"

"I may be old, but I've been doing this a long, long time."

"Since you were my age, right… Okay, so we're probably looking for a redhead, and artist guy who has a thing for m- Marinette Dupain-Cheng," she corrects herself at the last minute.

"I hate him already," the man in black mutters, causing Marinette's eyebrows to shoot up.

"Is there something wrong with Marinette?"

He shakes his head. "No, she's a lovely girl, very talented, but my son has a bit of a crush on her, and isn't a redhead."

"… Right," Marinette frowns, glancing up to the balcony. "There he is!" she points up to the boy sitting on the railing, tablet in hand. As Marinette meets his eyes, they widen in… recognition.

"Beauty…" he whispers softly, and with a few quick lines, he disappears.

Marinette is internally screaming at the top of her lungs. "Um… Mr. Noir?"

"Yeah, kid?"

"He… He might know who I am. Like, right now. And if he knows, then there's a chance Papillon knows. Which is either really good or really bad."

"Why. Why would it ever, EVER be good for Papillon to know who you are?" Mr. Noir groans, exhaustion evident in his voice.

"Well… because he's hot… and protected me last time… and kissed me… and it was great…"

"He'd lost control of the akuma, and knew you were the only one who could fix things."

"He said he loved me!"

"He's insane."

"Well, he might not know, so…"

…

He does not know.

In fact, he will never know, Evillistrator promises himself. He's not going to do this whole akuma thing the way his instincts tell him. Sure, he was embarrassed, but he's not going to try to hurt her, not Marinette, his beauty. Screw what Papillon says.

He knows other akumas have broken the hold when Papillon wasn't paying attention. He can do that. It wasn't a thirst for revenge that the akuma pulled out of him, after all. He's unlike any other.

While they all ran on pain, anguish, and hurt, he was running hot on something far more powerful.

Something potent, and irreversible.

Love.


	16. Chapter 16

Gabriel Agreste is getting very sick of teenagers attacking the city.

The way the kid tells it, this one has a crush on Adrien's little girlfriend, and so he… wants to attack the Bourgeois girl. Because… reasons. Honestly, Gabriel is not sure that people need a reason to want to attack the Bourgeois girl lately.

So, they head to the hotel, and he checks his watch. "Damn it…"

"What's wrong, Mr. Noir?" the kid asks.

"You see, Little Lady, when you get older and become successful, you're going to have quite a few demands on your time. Not that you don't already, but it gets even worse. And the whole superhero thing can put you behind schedule on the line that I was supposed to have finished last week…"

She nods. "Yeah, I know what you mean. I have a huge project to do, and my partner's going to be absolutely furious at me…" she shivers. "She's actually terrifying. Like, sociopath levels of terrifying."

He frowns. "I see…" he mutters, and taps at the window of the hotel. Chloe comes running… and jumps on the kid, emitting a sound he was unaware human could make.

"OHMIGODYOU'RELIKETOTALLYLADYBUGOHMIGOD!"

Once the kid has had enough and leaves, it dawns on Gabriel…

This is going to be a very, very long afternoon.

…

Marinette has barely detransformed when the Evillistrator hops in through her window with a bouquet of blue roses, and a soft smile.

"… Hey, Nath. Um… nice flowers," she finishes lamely.

"They're for you! Marinette…"

"Look, are you here to attack me?"

"No! I would never!" he gasps, looking genuinely astonished. "I… I actually came because… oh my god, this is awkward… I broke off the contract when Papillon wasn't paying attention, and-"

"You WHAT?"

He jumps back, hands up. "I broke off the connection! So I'm not going to try to take your earrings or even attack Chloe, I just… I was kinda hoping… oh my god." He tugs at the violet-tipped ends of his hair. "It's kinda my birthday, and… well, I was gonna ask if maybe you wanted to gooutwithme?" he rushes through the end of the sentence. "I understand if you don't, but I mean, since I'm not going to remember this, I might as well ask, right?"

She looks down, thinking. "You… you understand I'll have to cleanse the akuma pretty soon, right?"

"I get that. Like I said, I broke off contact with Papillon already. He's… not really offering me what I really want, so I had no reason to stay," the boy shrugs. "He has a tendency to detransform and let us do whatever we want for a bit once we're initiated. If that helps?"

Marinette thinks on it for a moment. Adrien… Papillon… adding Nath to the mix isn't going to end well, and she has a… friend-date with Adrien set up… but Nath is here, sane, and offering a REAL date. "I'll go. If you promise that you'll give me the pen after and let me cleanse the akuma without a fight."

He looks up, surprised. "You'll go?"

"Just one date, right? I mean, you're being actually really amazing, so sure. I'd love to."

He beams. "I'll pick you up at… is six good for you?"

"Six is great for me."

"Great!"

He gets up, and quickly kisses her cheek. "Until then, my beauty," he grins, and with a few sketches, he descends from her window on what looks like a flying horse…

"Marinette."

"Yes, Tikki?"

"Did you just agree to a date with an akuma?"

She freezes. "I… did. Well, that's not gonna end well…"

"It probably won't especially if Papillon sees you, and acts on his attraction to you… I've never seen a fight between an akuma and their master, but I can't imagine it'll be pretty."

"Oh my god, I didn't think this through, Tikki, what do I do?"

The kwami sighs. "We don't have a choice now. You agreed to go out with him. Somehow, I don't think getting the akuma mad is a good idea. He might say he's safe, but akumas pull at emotions until they warp a person… in this case, it's his crush on you. Love is… well, love is sometimes a psychopath."

"Shit…"

…

Adrien is still trying to get in contact with the akuma.

"It doesn't make any sense, Nuru, they only leave if I don't get them what they want, and I got him his revenge on Chloe, I did a great job at that! Why, why did the connection snap?"

Nuru crosses his arms. "Because Nathanaël Kurtzberg doesn't really care about Chloe. Well, a little, but that's not what pushed him over the edge. He cares about Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And that's not what you were giving him. The akuma wasn't getting what he wanted, so he cut the connection to get it."

Adrien groans. "So I'm screwed. He's after my Princess, and he's got the power to literally create anything out of nothing. This guy's the strongest akuma I've ever made, maybe more powerful than Ladybug, and I've lost control because he's got a crush on Mari!"

"Yeah, basically."

Adrien sighs. "You know what this means, right?"

"I think so."

"Nuru! Transforme moi!"

…

Marinette heads to the pier, arm and arm with Nath, and feels a mix of fear and excitement.

It's vain of her, and she knows it, but… it's nice to know she's desirable enough to have someone get akumatized for the love of her.

He enters a gondola, and helps her in, smiling sweetly. "You look beautiful, Marinette. Thank you, for agreeing to this."

She laughs. "Sure thing. I think this'll be pretty fun! The river sure is beautiful…"

He sighs. "Can't hold a candle to you. Nothing I draw is ever going to come close to how gorgeous you look right now."

"You're so sweet…" she giggles.

Then, a pink butterfly alights on the edge of the gondola.

It's followed by a blue one, and then a gold and black one.

More and more butterflies swarm, and butterflies mean only one thing could be coming…

Psychedelic eyes filled with anger and jealousy.

"What are you doing with her, Evillistrator?"

Papillon has entered the scene.


	17. Chapter 17

Marinette can't help the blush that rises to her cheeks. She's not with Papillon by any means, but she did kiss him… technically.

"I'm taking her on a date… a consensual one, of course. Because I'm in love with her, and she finds me…" he glances at her for a moment. "Well, good enough to say yes to. I hope."

Papillon freezes, and slowly turns those amazing eyes on her, the colors swirling through his irises like vividly glowing paints, or liquid jewels. His wings flutter slightly in the breeze, and the butterflies fill the air. "You… you agreed to date this… this akuma?" he growls the last words.

Marinette crosses her arms. "Um, yeah, because he's only an akuma because you decided it'd be a good idea for whatever reason. Seriously, how do you choose your victims, follow Chloe around all day and hope for the best?"

"For all you know, I am Chloe," he laughs slightly.

She freezes, suddenly alarmed. "… You're not, right?" Holy shit, if he's really Chloe… it'd make sense though, in a messed-up way…

Nath gets up at that point, clearly annoyed. "Marinette, mind if I deal with this intruder?"

"How are you going to deal with him, exactly…?"

"He's enamored with you. I… don't like this." He twirls his pen in his hands eyes pinned on Papillon. "I _really_ don't like this…"

A chill shakes through Marinette. 'Love is sometimes a psychopath.' The words echo through her head. "Nath, calm down. Please."

He turns to her with the most disturbing smile she's ever seen. It's so sweet, but looks like barely-masked insanity. "This will only take a moment, Beauty."

"You said you weren't going to hurt anyone! Nath, you don't want to do the whole akuma thing, remember?"

His smile falters. "It sounds to me like you're on his side. After everything he did, you still don't want me to kill him."

She stumbles back. "Whoa, who the hell said anything about KILLING anyone?"

His face darkens. "I'll kill anyone who so much as looks at you."

She gasps, stepping back. "N-no, I can't let you do that. I won't. You know I won't…"

"You can't do anything with him watching," he says, gesturing to Papillon with his pen. "And so I'll stab out those eyes you seem so obsessed with first."

It's a split second, and Papillon has his arms and wings spread in front of her, and he radiates cold fury. "You're not going to _touch_ her, Evillistrator."

"My name is Nathanaël!" he growls. "And I love her. And I'll destroy you."

Marinette holds onto one of Papillon's wings, confused and more than a little afraid. "Please, Papillon, just go. Please…"

"And leave you with this psychopath? I don't think so." He draws his staff, and the butterflies swarm, a beautiful hurricane of hues and wings.

Nath raises his pen, and begins drawing.

Marinette lifts her purse. "Get Mr. Noir," she whispers to her kwami. "Tell him I'm… on a secret mission, and Marinette needs his help."

Lucky her, the boys are too busy getting ready for a fight to the death to notice.

…

Adrien's Miraculous was not made for fighting. Commanding butterflies is not a great offence. He is very aware of this when facing off against a super villain with incredible power.

This becomes extremely clear when said super villain drops a glass box on him and Marinette, and draws a hole in the bottom of the boat.

"N-Nath?" Marinette's voice shakes. "What are you…?"

"My Beauty, I hate to do this, but for a relationship to work, you must only love your partner. No other. I'm just showing what happens when you stray," he smiles. "Don't worry, I'll come rescue you once he's dead."

"Nathanaël you're being really psychotic right now, just let us go!"

"Sorry, Beauty," he smiles, and dashes off on a hover board….

Leaving Adrien to face his Princess' wrath.

"You idiot! I had the situation under control, he was going to give me the pen after the date and I was going to turn it in for purification, but because you couldn't keep a lid on it, we're trapped and probably going to… oh my god, we're going to die!"

"Calm down, Pri- Marinette, we're not going to die," he sighs, resting a hand on her shoulder.

"What, you're gonna have your butterflies lift up the glass?" she sneers. "If Mr. Noir was here, we could use his staff, but the other weapons aren't much use…"

"That's where you're wrong," he smiles. "See, I happen to have a staff too. Don't use it much, but it follows the premise of Miracle weapons. AND! It can do this!" He smashes the staff against the glass box, and as soon as the stone hits, the box shatters.

"How… How did you…?"

"I created the akuma. I can destroy what it makes."

She frowns slightly. "That… actually makes a lot of sense."

He nods. "I'm not taking you home. It'll be the first place he looks for you. Where do you want to go? Do you have any friends you could stay with?"

She's quiet for a minute. "I… I do. I think. Alya…"

"Does he know you're friends with her?"

"… He does. Well… I guess that leaves Nino or Adrien…"

He smiles slightly. "Which one?"

"I guess… Adrien? I've already dealt with you and Nath tonight, why not add the third guy I shouldn't be attracted to but am into the mix?" she slams a hand over her mouth instantly. "I cannot believe I just said that."

Adrien has to struggle to keep his eyes from coming out of his head. "Y-you're attracted to me?"

"Didn't you hear Nath bitching about it?"

"I figured that was just psychosis…"

She looks absolutely adorable glaring at him. "Just take me to Adrien's place already, hotshot."

Grinning, he lifts her up, and they take off through the night sky, amongst the stars.


	18. Chapter 18

They land on Adrien's doorstep, and Papillon smiles. "I'm going to clean up the mess I made, and I promise, I won't let him hurt anyone else. If I can get the pen, the akuma, once freed, will be under my control. I'll take the magic away, and everything will go back to normal… well, once Ladybug uses the cure. Stay safe, alright?"

She nods, and in a flash of idiocy, wraps her arms around his neck and kisses him full on the lips. He returns the kiss rather quickly, and for a moment, she forgets that she's locking lips with a megalomaniac, and just feels the thrill of kissing the boy who's first instinct when threatened was to cover _her_ as much as possible.

When the kiss is broken, she lets her cheeks flush red. "Don't let him win, or I'm never doing that again."

He nods, very red-faced himself. "Y-you got it, Pri- Marinette."

"And don't think this means I like you, or remotely approve of what you're doing, because I don't. I just don't want you dead."

"Got it." He pecks her cheek, and spreads his wings, flying off, as the butterflies form his symbol before following him in beautiful formation.

"Show-off," she mutters, smiling. "Tikki!"

The kwami hops out. "Okay, for the record, I do NOT approve!"

"Transforme moi!"

Tikki is sucked into the earrings before she can say another word, and Marinette heads after Papillon.

…

Adrien's head is still buzzing from the kiss when he ends up at Chloe's apartment, watching the Evillistrator chase her around with a giant high heel.

"You know, that's actually kind of funny," he grins. "Too bad you tried to kill me, or we might have gotten along." He slams his staff into the shoe, shattering it.

"Well, well, well. Looks like it's the final showdown. The villain who terrorizes Paris has come to fight the monster he created. This should be interesting," the Evillistrator grins, sketchpad in hand.

"Give me the pen, Nath," Adrien says calmly. "You can't win. I gave you power, and what the lord gives, he may take away."

"You have never been my lord."

He twirls the pen in his fingers, and the two boys grin, before jumping head-on into battle.

Every weapon summoned is shattered, and the fight almost hits a standstill, until…

"Sorry we're late, Butterfly Boy."

"Oh my god, can you not?"

He looks up, and there stand Ladybug and Mr. Noir, grinning.

"Marinette filled us… well, filled me in. So you're on our side for tonight," she beams.

"Three against one?" Nath laughs. "How unfair. Guess I just have to add some _depth_ to this sketch!"

In three swipes, Adrien finds his wings half missing, and is clinging to the edge of a hole in the floor. "… Crap."

…

"Papillon!" Marinette cries out, before remembering that she-as-Ladybug really shouldn't care that much of her greatest enemy gets hurt.

But she-as-Marinette is terrified as Nath steps toward where the villain dangles from the hole in the floor.

"You're going down. And she'll thank me, and she'll love me for this!"

"You're insane!" Papillon tightens his grip, but…

But his suit wasn't made for combat.

And he's slipping.

"See you around," Nath smirks, and leans down to whisper something. Those dual-tinted eyes widen, and his fingers slip.

Everything seems to slow down as she desperately summons Lucky Charm, and he crashes to the ground.

A rubber ball lands in her hand, and Nath smiles.

"My Beauty, you're not going to fight me," he says. "He's already gone…dead, most likely. So now, there's nothing keeping us apart."

"Y-you murderer. I'm never going to…"

She feels a hand on her shoulder as the tears streak her face, and she looks up at Mr. Noir.

"Take away his light, Little Lady. We'll take care of everything. I promise."

Shaking, but holding it together, she nods. "You're going down, Evillistrator."

As the red lights flash, showing her the pattern, she winds up the ball, and sends it flying, plunging them into darkness.

Deprived of his sight, it's a matter of course for Mr. Noir, with his night vision, to snatch the pen from the akuma, and with a quick catch, Marinette snaps it, and purifies the akuma. As the ladybugs sweep over the city, she shakes in fear.

"I- I have to go see. I have to check his b-body," she whispers.

Mr. Noir nods, not offering to come with her. Unbeknownst to Marinette, he's well aware that there are things that must be done alone, and grieving is one of them.

She swings out the window, down to the lobby, where he lies on the ground, and she crashes to her knees, tears coming fast as the transformation releases. "P-please. Please don't be…"

Tears blurring her vision, she leans down on his chest. "C'mon, wake up. Y-you helped defeat him. I said I'd kiss you if he didn't win… Don't you want to be awake for it?" Desperate, she presses her lips to his.

And suddenly, he's breathing, jerking awake. "M-Marinette!"

She gasps, and throws her arms around him. "Don't scare me like that again you asshole!" she tries to yell, but it comes out just above a whisper.

He laughs slightly. "What's Adrien going to say about this?"

Pulling away, she pins him with a glare. "Nothing, because Adrien and I aren't together yet, and you and I aren't either. But you still aren't allowed to scare me!"

"I'll do my best," he grins.

…

The next night, Adrien picks her up, and takes her to the premier. The movie is a romance, and passes in a whirl of laughter and camera flashes.

At the end of the night, they're being driven home in Adrien's car.

"You look amazing tonight," he whispers to her.

"Thanks," she smiles… "Hey, Adrien?"

"Yeah, Princess?"

"Um… Look. I like you," she tells him. "I like you a lot. And I just want to know if…"

His eyebrows shoot up. This is the same girl who was just yesterday making out with Papillon… but then, maybe that's why she's confessing to him.

"I've been in love with you since the day I met you, Princess," he smiles, kissing her hand softly. "Are you asking…?"

"I am. Adrien, will you… go out with me? As in… would you let me be your girlfriend?"

He laughs quietly. "I'd love that."

As they kiss, everything falls away. It's not as sexual as kissing her as Papillon, but sweeter somehow. It feels like the kind of kiss a Princess should give, and tastes like cream puffs and chocolate.

As the kiss breaks, she looks up at him, blushing. "Je t'aime, Adrien."

"Je t'aime, Princess."


	19. Chapter 19

They sit in class as the teacher goes on and on about true love and kissing and whatnot. Valentines Day was never Adrien's favorite holiday…

But now, looking over his shoulder at his Princess, he can say it might not be so bad.

"Mr. Agreste! Kindly cease ogling Ms. Dupain-Cheng and concentrate on the lesson!"

He snaps toward the front, quickly.

"So, Adrien, what exactly is the most powerful curse-breaker in fairytales?"

Oh. That's easy. He lets a dreamy smile fill his face. "They say true love's kiss can bring someone back from even the brink of death."

He hears Marinette's breath catch, and knows what she's thinking of: kissing him… Papillon… and his miraculous revival.

The teacher nods. "I'll let you off this time, but in the future, please try to focus on your classwork."

He laughs, and turns to his notebook…

However, instead of notes, he finds himself writing a poem.

"Your hair is jet black,

Your eyes, blue as the heavens,

I want to see your soul

And be in your mind forever

I see you each day,

I hope I've read the signs

I shall love you to the end of my days,

Will you be my Valentine?"

Smiling slyly, he slides the poem up to the desk behind him… and hears a shriek of delight.

"Miss Dupain-Cheng! Mr. Agreste! I understand it's Valentine's Day, but if you two interrupt class one more time with these antics, I swear…"

"Sorry, won't happen again!" Adrien says quickly, hearing Marinette giggle behind him.

…

As the bell rings and class lets out, she races up to catch her boyfriend in a huge hug. "Yes! Yes! Yes!" she says, kissing his cheek in her excitement.

He laughs, and pulls her into a soft, but full kiss, smiling into it. When they pull apart, his eyes glitter as he holds her gaze. "I love you, Princess. Thank you."

She beams. "Guess that means you're my Prince, huh?"

"Guess so, if you'll allow it," he breathes in her ear.

They are forced to break apart as the lunch bell rings. "See you soon," she grins, pecking his lips once more, and striding out into the glow of the sunlight.

"I- I'm not so sure this is a good idea," she hears.

Kim holds a necklace, terror clear in his eyes, but a trace of hope as well.

So of course Marinette has to jump in and help.

"What are you up to?"

He turns to her, and smiles. "Oh, hey Marinette. Just… trying to figure out if it's a good idea or not to confess to this girl I like. Well, love. She's just so… she's like a goddess of confidence and freedom, and I'm just a jock, but…"

Marinette grins. "Go for it. Trust me, you'll feel all the better for it!"

"You think so?"

She nods. "I did, and, well… maybe next time you and your 'goddess' can get in trouble for interrupting class with Adrien and me! Oh, we could do a double-date in detention!"

Kim laughs. "Yeah, alright… She might not be pleased if she got detention, but if worse comes to worse, sounds great!"

She grins, and positively skips off.

…

Adrien sees the picture, and knows what happened instantly.

The jackass who likes to screw with people finally got screwed over.

What an opportunity!

He opens his bag in the back of the school, and his butterflies enter the air, swirling around him before flitting through the courtyard. He reaches out his hand, and a lovely red and black one lights atop his index finger.

"Mind helping me out?" he asks. The butterfly flutters its wings. "Thank you," Adrien smiles. "Nuru!"

"Not saying a word. You won't listen."

"Transforme moi!"

As he transforms, he infuses the wings with dark magic, and sends the akuma flying over the city.

…

Gabriel is in a conference. He's bored out of his mind, but can't check his phone. Imagine how rude that would be!

Idly, he wonders how his son and bug-daughter are fairing.

…

"… And whatever you do, you're not allowed to hurt-"

"Papillon?"

His head jerks to the side, and the contact cuts off. "Oh, hello, Pr- Marinette! So, I hear you've found another to kiss?"

"Um, yeah. Because you're attractive, and I mean, thanks for saving me from Nath… but you also kinda set him on me, so… and you commit felonies… a lot… and you're doing that now, right?" she stammers out.

He can't help but laugh as his Princess justifies her logic. "As much as I'd like to continue this conversation, the last time we during an attack, I apparently lost control and died. I'll be seeing you though!" he salutes, and spreads his wings, taking off with the grace of the butterfly for which he is named.

Marinette hurries to find a place to transform. "This'll be fun," she mutters. "Did he absolutely have to do something on Valentine's Day?"

…

Adrien detransforms after sufficiently instructing the akuma… although he keeps feeling he missed something.

And, there's his Princess, racing down the street…

His Princess.

His Princess who interrupted him before he could tell the akuma not to attack her.

"Marinette!" he races after her, grabbing her arm. "We need to get you somewhere safe, now."

She spins around, eyes wide. "Adrien! What are you doing here?"

"Akuma. We need to run, Princess."

She pulls away. Why is she pulling away? "I'm immune," she tells him confidently.

Oh. Right.

"Yeah, not this time. C'mon, please, Princess," he looks at her, eyes pleading…

And then widening as he watches Dark Cupid rise overhead, and train his bow.

"You two are so disgustingly happy," he growls. "If I can't be happy, I won't tolerate you two idiots." He draws an arrow towards Marinette's back…

"No!" Adrien grabs her, and twists around, feeling his back struck with an agonizing pain, making him cry out.

"Adrien!" she gasps, looking into his eyes, panicked. "Adrien, oh my god, please talk to me!"

"Princess… I…" his head feels strange, and he gazes into her cerulean eyes… the eyes that got him shot, all because this little idiot wouldn't listen to him. This selfish, cheating bitch just got him shot! "Get off me!" he sneers, shoving her away. "I can't take your insipid little face, you lying little psycho. You think I don't see your straying gaze, as you chase everyone from that artist to the goddamn Papillon? You can't even choose me over a villain," he scoffs. "Why would I ever take a bullet for a cheating liar?"

She gasps, eyes filling with tears. "A-Adrien…?"

"Don't come near me again. Skanks like you will never change."

She's terrified, and hurt, staring at him in horror. "You… please, Adrien, it's not like…"

"GO! GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I SMACK YOU TO THE GROUND!"

Tears streaking her face, she dashes off, scared and heartbroken.

Good.


	20. Chapter 20

**Author's Note: Hi everyone! It's me, Sophia! I don't do these on this story very often, but I just wanted to say a few things: One, FandomsAndBandMemes has MADE ART STUFFS. SERIOUSLY. CHECK IT OUT. post/149824629456/inspired-by-this-fic-by-sophiacrutchfeild-which**

 **Two, I have the official designs up for Papillon, at post/150747779812/my-designs-for-my-fic-le-papillon-rising. Thank you for your time, and onto the story!**

She runs, unseeing through the tears, and eventually collapses against a wall, sobbing.

"H-he hates me…" she gasps out, and in her mind, she watches his soft green eyes shift from worry and love to disgust and fury, as she bursts into tears all over again. Adrien isn't supposed to hate her. Psychedelic eyes change, but green eyes were always supposed to be full of kindness…

She knows now, that she chooses Adrien. She can take Papillon's sneers and taunts as Ladybug, but… she can't handle Adrien's hatred.

"Marinette…" Tikki floats out. "Adrien doesn't hate you. He loves you. He took an arrow for you, didn't he? I think that arrow affected him."

Marinette looks up, struggling to control her breaths, and shaking. "Y-you think?"

"I know. Whatever else you say about him, Adrien loves you and wants to protect you. That means that you have to save him now, okay? Can you pull yourself together and do that?"

She nods, wiping her tears and standing up. "Y-you know what to do."

"Say the words."

"Tikki! Transforme moi!"

…

Gabriel checks his phone, and… well.

"Plagg?"

"Yeah, Gabe?"

"Why do you never inform me when akumas attack?"

Plagg yawns. "I was sleeping, c'mon!"

Gabriel crosses his arms. "I am fifty-two years old and mortal, and I sleep less than you do. That is unacceptable. Are you aware that my _son_ has been victimized while you were taking your little power nap?"

Plagg freezes, and looks up at his charge's cold, harsh glare. "I, um… didn't know? Ha, ha..."

"Plagg. Transforme moi. NOW!"

He feels the transformation wash over him, and pounds his fist into his hand, the ring glowing.

Gabriel can't believe the nerve of that little demon. Adrien is in danger, and Noir wasn't there to keep his own kid safe! What kind of superhero can't even protect his child, the only family he even has left?

Well… that might not be true, but he's been trying to avoid thinking about what Plagg said about Bridgette.

…

"Hey, Noir… are you ever scared about this job?" she speaks, barely above a whisper.

They sit on a rooftop after dark, looking over the city of lights. The two kids who, in the year 1982, were entrusted with an insane amount of power.

"Of course I am," he says, reaching for her hand. "I worry every day that I'll never get to go home… that I'll never be able to be close to anyone, because of this… or that I'll lose you in a battle… but what choice do we have? When it comes down to it, I'd choose protecting you over a normal life a thousand times over."

She leans on his shoulder, and he kisses the top of her head.

"I'm scared, Chat," she says, using his "first" name for the first time in years. "I'm so scared. I don't want to die."

He laughs quietly. "Don't worry about that. I'm not letting you die before me, so as long as I'm around, you're safe. Okay?"

She looks up at him, hazel-green eyes full of trust. "Okay."

…

Marinette stands in front of Dark Cupid. "Hey! Reject Cupid! Want to mess with me?"

Kim scathingly looks her over. "Well, hello, Ladybug. Your services are not needed at the moment."

She sighs. "So, he lost control. AGAIN. Great."

"If you won't leave, then I'll make you," Kim threatens.

"Try," she places her hands on her hips, cocking her head…

A hand grabs her arms, yanking them behind her back. "Hey, Lucky," a voice growls in her ear.

Adrien.

She bursts out of his grip, and finds herself held at sword-point. His lips are blackened, burnt, and his irises are ringed with red… and violet… it somehow looks familiar…

But as he lunges, her thoughts are drawn away from his eyes, and to the fight. She knew Adrien was skilled with a blade, but never guessed that he was this deadly efficient. She finds herself doing backbends, trying to avoid his attacks.

"Adrien, listen to me!" she cries. "You're being controlled!"

He laughs, eyes sparkling with rage. "Who would be controlling me? Le Papillon?" He seems to find this immensely funny, even though Marinette thinks it's a logical guess.

"Um, not this time. He's lost control, I think," she says, jumping to avoid a slash that nicks her ankle.

She tries to think how to stop it… what can break the curse…?

"True love's kiss can bring someone back."

The words of the boy in front of her echo through her head.

Strategy in mind, she begins fighting back, not trying to hurt him, but trying to plant one on him… until suddenly, she finds herself pinned beneath him.

Taking advantage, Marinette grabs Adrien's face, and pulls her lips to his, kissing him passionately, and feeling his lips heal under hers, and suddenly he's kissing back, and the curse is broken, but she doesn't want to stop…

"What the hell is going on here?"

Both kids turn to see Mr. Noir, staring in shock at the scene before him.

"I… Wow. Okay. This is… I'm out," he finally says. "I am NOT dealing with you two right now. See you around." He leaves, clearly shaken.

Adrien looks down, and makes a noise of shock. "Why were you kissing me?" he demands.

"Um…" she blushes. "You were shot by an arrow, and… um, I figured that true love's kiss works in fairytales, so..."

He gets up. "Stop. I have a girlfriend, who I love with every ounce of my being. I can't go around making out with superheroes," he tells her.

She nods, hiding a huge grin. "Right. Of course."

She easily grabs Dark Cupid's brooch after that, and the akuma is purified.

…

"Adrien!"

He turns, and… there she is.

"Princess, I am so sorry, I remember some things, and… I am so sorry, what I said to you, I…"

She cuts him off with a kiss, pressing a heart card into his hand. "I love you. And I know you love me. I'll forgive you for anything, I promise."

 _No, you won't._

He takes the card, and smiles. "Thank you."

"I love you."

"Your hair is golden, your eyes iridescent

When I look at you, I would like to share your dreams and thought

Yes, I want to be your valentine, we'll be one

I will love you forever, my heart is yours."


	21. Chapter 21

Adrien crouches behind the desk, gun clenched in his hand. "We have to hurry, he'll be here at any minute," he hisses to Mylène, crouched beside him. "I'll get you out of here, and take him on."

"N-no," she looks up, determined. "No, I'm staying. We have to stop it, we have to-"

CRASH!

She screams, and cowers. "No, no, no stop please no," she cries, tears streaking her face as the creature stands over them…

"Cut!"

The lights flicker up, and Ivan takes off the mask. "Mylène… are… are you okay?" he asks, worried.

She shakes her head, still sobbing. "I can't do this, I can't do this, I can't do this!" she chokes out. "It's too much like…" she stops, looking up, and Ivan turns away.

"Lène, it's me… I won't hurt you…"

"I-I know, but… but I can't stop thinking about when… I'm sorry, it's stupid." She takes a deep breath, and quietly sings to herself. "Okay. C-can we redo this please?"

Adrien frowns, trying to avoid the guilt pumping through his veins, the knowledge that he's the reason she's so scared of Ivan in a monster mask, by replacing it with mild annoyance.

"Now, now, children, this is a movie! We must keep it professional!"

And… then there's that.

Gabriel Agreste found out that his son was starring in a school movie, and just had to help out. Adrien has no idea why Gabriel's suddenly so interested, but it's a mix of great and awkward.

The scene restarts.

"We have to hurry, he'll be here at any minute," Adrien repeats the dialogue. "I'll get you out of here and take him on."

"No," Mylène restarts, and…

Ivan breaks through, and she screams again, racing to the far side of the room.

"Oh, yeah, this works great," Chloé sneers. "The dumb scaredy-cat as the female lead. We're never going to get this shot with the whiny little cry-baby."

"Chloé Bourgeois!" Gabriel gets up, clearly furious. "We do NOT speak like that, Missy!"

Chloé looks up, shocked. "Wh-what?" Idly, Adrien wonders how many years it's been since she was last scolded.

"N-no, Mr. Agreste, she's right," Mylène says, tears staining her face. "I-I'm just a scaredy-cat…" She runs out of the room, her sobs echoing down the hall.

"Mylène!" Ivan races after her.

Gabriel's eyes become very cold as he looks down at Chloé. "You have disappointed me greatly today. It is almost as if you have no empathy for those surrounding you. Is this how you act on a regular basis?"

Chloé looked up, cocky grin in place, but eyes faltering, a little nervous. "Well of course… I am the mayor's daughter after all!"

"And you think that gives you the right to treat others with disrespect?"

"Well…"

"Kindly get out of my sight and do not return until you have apologized sincerely to that girl."

Adrien is surprised, to say the least.

"U-um, excuse you! Do you want me to tell my daddy how r-rude your being to me?"

"Chloé, you seem to have forgotten that the name 'Agreste' holds quite a bit more power than the name 'Bourgeois.' Your father does not scare me, and I will not tolerate your misbehavior. Now go apologize." Gabriel isn't smiling as he looks her in the eye, and for the first time, Chloe's classmates see her cower.

"O-okay," she whispers, scampering out of the room.

Adrien turns to his father, surprised. "You just told of Chloé?"

"I did."

"But…"

"She was being rude to a student. Adrien, are you telling me that she's done this in front of you and you _haven't_ done the same?"

The younger Agreste looks down. "I didn't realize I was allowed to… you told me not to make trouble."

Gabriel's face softens. "Adrien, if you get in trouble with the school for defending your classmates, I'm on your side every time. Understand?"

Adrien nods, pleasantly surprised. "Thank you, Father."

"Of course."

Suddenly, a thought strikes Adrien, and he feels ill.

"Well…" Gabriel frowns. "In any case, we ought to keep this production moving right along. Why don't we have Marinette-?"

"Um, may I be excused?" Adrien asks suddenly. "I feel a bit... um, unwell."

Sighing, Gabriel nods, and his son rushes to the boy's restrooms, letting Nuru out of his jacket.

"It a great opportunity, and I know that, but this feels so sleazy, taking advantage of what is clearly trauma from an incident I caused, but the raw emotion is so powerful, Nuru, you can't believe, and… are you even listening to me?" he folds his arms, glaring at the kwami.

"Honestly Adrien," Nuru sighs. "I never listen to you, as you never listen to me."

"Rude!" Adrien turns his back, and therefore does not see his kwami making a very rude face. "If you're not paying attention…"

"We both know that you're going to do it anyway, Adrien."

The boy sighs. "Yeah. I guess so. Nuru! Transforme moi!"

…

Gabriel hears his son's screams and runs.

"Help! Please!"

"Adrien!" Gabriel bursts into the boy's restroom, and finds the room empty… aside from a trail of pink goo, and one of his son's horrible orange converse.

Seriously, he has no idea why he even allowed Adrien to get orange converse.

"Akuma," the voice behind him whispers softly. He turns to see Marinette, frowning at the scene, worry in her eyes. "It has to be."

"Right," Gabriel nods. "Okay. Students, we're doing a head-count. We have Alya, Nino, Nathanaël, Kim, Max, Rose, Juleka, Sabrina, Alix, and Marinette. We're missing my son, Chloé, Mylène, and Ivan. Therefore, it is likely that one of them is the akuma."

Marinette nods. "We can rule Adrien out, I think. He didn't have much reason to be upset."

"Mylène was pretty messed up about Ivan's mask," Kim points out.

"But we all know how Ivan gets when Mylène is hurt," Alix adds.

"Nah, he was already akumatized, you can't be taken more than once," Kim waves it off.

"Chloé," Nathanaël murmurs.

All heads turn to him.

"Chloé got told off for the first time in who knows how long. It could easily be her. We all saw her face."

Gabriel nods. "You have a point. Well, whatever it is, we need to stick together until Ladybug can get here."

"And Mr. Noir," Marinette cuts in. "He's also necessary."

"True," Gabriel nods. "In any case-"

Ivan bursts in, horror in his eyes. "Mr. Agreste!"

"Well, that rules him out," Kim grins.

"Mr. Agreste, Mylène and Chloé went into the nurse's office and they're both missing, and it's covered in… pink goo…" he takes in the scene of the bathroom. "Just like that…"

"Okay. Three students missing. Let's not add to that total… where is Marinette?!"

Gabriel is starting to realize what a terrible idea it is to try and deal with a group of emotionally-volatile teenagers in a school where they become monsters at the drop of a hat.


	22. Chapter 22

Marinette is transformed in the girl's locker room.

Sure, she feels bad about causing Mr. Agreste any extra worry, but taking down the akuma takes priority.

As she steps out, she notices a few butterflies, flitting down the hall, out of a classroom. How… well, actually, not peculiar.

She slams the door open to find him, le Papillon, studying his gloves, clearly bored.

"What are you doing, Papillon? Where are the kids you kidnapped?"

He turns around, surprised. "Lady Luck? Okay, first off, they're not hurt, just trapped in what amounts to extra-strength bubble gum that will disappear once everything's purified."

"So you know I'll win?" she places a hand on her hip, grinning.

"Didn't say that. If I get my hands on those earrings, I'll do the purifying bit myself. It's my fallback for any damage," he explains, twirling his staff like a cane. "I mean, it's not like I enjoy attacking."

Marinette is unconvinced, folding her spandex-clad arms. "Yeah, sure."

"It's true!"

She laughs as his wings spread defensively, recalling them spread in front of her, in protection. "You're not a villain. Not really," she smiles, sitting beside him. "Well, okay, you are, but I don't think you should be. You don't seem like the terrorist type."

"What, because I'm pretty?" he smirks. "Plenty of villains are."

"No, because you put your life on the line to protect a few people… like that girl, Marinette."

He sighs quietly. "That's because I love her. Lucky, one thing you should know about me is that I don't care for many people. There's my best friend, her, my parents, and a friend from my childhood, but that's basically it. However, I'll do anything for those people… including this."

She watches him carefully. "You know, you kinda remind me of my boyfriend. I think you two would… either get along or kill each other."

"I'm sure he'd be ecstatic to know you're comparing him to a, quote-unquote, 'terrorist,'" he mocks, making little quotes in the air with his hands. "Why am I even talking to you about this?"

"Um… because… I have no idea," she admits. "I better go fight your monster."

He nods. "Oh, by the way? The building's coated in slime. You're trapped here for the foreseeable future."

"Good to know," she smiles, and bangs her shoulder on the doorframe on the way out, causing her arch-enemy to laugh profusely. "Yeah, yeah, I know, very mature."

As she closes the door though, there's a smile on her face.

…

Gabriel is about to freak out. Why, why do highschoolers love to run off when it's a matter of life and death? Why? He just really wants to know.

There are exactly five kids left, including one girl who seemed almost enamored by the monster when it attacked.

And… there's his bug-child, waltzing into the classroom like she's at a party.

"Okay, what's the problem, my good citizens?" she grins.

"Well, you see," Gabriel explains, "A monster is kidnapping students, and we can't figure out what has happened to them."

She smiles. "I see. Well, don't worry, I've got it under control!" she chirps.

He wonders when she decided that taking on giant monsters alone was a good idea. "You're fifteen. You are not doing anything without an adult's supervision. As Mr. Noir appears absentee, I suppose I'll take on that role."

"Wait, what?"

"I'm helping. No ifs, ands, or buts," he speaks calmly, matter-of-factly, trying to hide any personal attachment.

She sighs. "Alright. You want to help? Then let's set a trap."

…

Ivan walks through the halls, toward the gym. He's worried, and he knows, he knows better than anyone, what this akuma is going through. The others may have been villains, but they were never monsters. There are precious few with inner demons so wild.

He hopes against hope that it's not Mylène… but he knows the odds, and he knows how much this could mess her up. She's fragile, delicate… Beautiful, of course… but like a glass angel. The reactions of others can break her.

He knows from experience that people don't take well to monsters…

Suddenly, the Horrificator crashes through the wall, and screams at the top of her lungs. Juleka and Rose find themselves grabbed by tendrils of pink slime, and pulled away.

Ivan meets her eyes, though, and she seems so soften, going so far as to… the best way he can describe it is that she licks him.

Okay, so definitely Mylène.

"I'm going to save you," he promises. "And, I'm going to protect you. Okay?"

She shrinks down in size…

"Now!" Ladybug calls out, and Mr. Agreste slashes through the wooden beams above them… although Ivan has to wonder how on Earth that man managed it.

They fall, and Mylène is trapped.

"She shrank," Ladybug murmurs. "Hmm…"

"It's fear," Ivan says softly, reaching to hold a beam of the cage. "She was so scared… I wouldn't be shocked if fear makes her stronger. But I could never be scared of her." He smiles at the trapped girl inside the monster. "She knows that. If you just don't let the akuma scare you, she'll come out."

Ladybug smiles slightly, clearly surprised. "Wow. Thanks Ivan!"

He nods, not looking at her. "Just save her, okay?"

…

Adrien isn't exactly shocked that he lost, although he is annoyed that a thrown-together band made of traffic cones and other school equipment is what defeated him.

But something's off.

He knows he told the Horrificator not to touch Marinette. He knows that he was careful to control this one.

He also knows that Marinette wasn't with the final students.

He detransforms to be "saved" with the other students, and begins looking all around for her. Where could she have gone if she wasn't taken by the akuma?

"Where is she…?" he murmurs, looking around.

That's when he feels a tap on his shoulder, and spins around to see her smiling gently. "Looking for me?"

"Marinette!" he pulls her close. "Where were you?"

"I was… taken. By the akuma."

She's lying. He knows she's lying. Why is she lying to him…? Where was she that's so bad…?

Or is it just that she doesn't really trust him since the Dark Cupid incident?

"Aw, how cute!" she smiles, and he turns to see Ivan and Mylène exchanging a chaste kiss.

"Yeah…" he fakes a smile.

"Dude!" Nino hurries up to him. "Dude, you've got to see this sick-ass footage I got!"

Adrien allows himself to be pulled away…

He tries not to think of the fact that Marinette's lying to him.


	23. Chapter 23

Adrien sits in his room, butterflies filling the air. He smiles, softly, extending a hand up. Before he can say a word, a butterfly with soft pink wings alights on his finger.

"What's she hiding…?" he murmurs. The pink-winged butterfly flutters sympathetically, extending its tongue, nearly licking his finger. Adrien laughs softly. "I know. You'd tell me if you could. Thanks, Highness."

"Okay, even I'm not sure why you name them," Nuru mutters. "You realize butterflies have no use for names?"

"You have one."

"I am an ancient god, not an actual butterfly, Adrien."

Adrien sighs, and lowers his hand, causing Highness to flit away through the air of the room. "It's nice talking to them. They listen."

"… Adrien. They're butterflies. Not people. Not dogs. Not even cats. They are BUTTERFLIES."

"You're a real stick in the mud, you know that?"

"And you have a class you should be getting to before you're late."

Adrien jerks up to his feet, staring at his clock.

"Why didn't you TELL ME SOONER?"

"Because you never listen, so why bother?"

The boy dashes around his room, hurrying to get ready. "To be clear, I really don't like you sometimes."

"You're a psychotic terrorist. Your affection is not desired."

"Ugh, I'm going to be late… unless…" he gets a glint in his eyes, and turns on Nuru. "I can fly. I can't believe I never thought of that before! I can fly!"

"Oh no."

"Nuru! Transforme moi!"

The kwami groans as he is sucked into the pin on his charge's shirt, and the wings extend. Adrien smiles broadly as his wings snap open, and the winged mask spreads over his eyes and down his cheeks. Grabbing his bag with a silken-gloved hand, he takes off out his window, laughing victoriously.

"Are you kidding me?"

He turns down to see his Princess, arms crossed, looking very annoyed.

"Something the matter?" he calls down.

"Can you just not make an akuma right now?" she whines in the most adorable way he's ever seen.

"Wasn't planning on it. Hey, need a lift to school?"

She frowns, and glances from her watch to him, clearly weighing being late against getting a ride from a villain she likes to kiss sometimes.

"Fine. But only because I don't want to be late!"

He lifts her bridal-style, smiling. "Understood. Not because you may happen to be attracted to me."

"Not at all," she confirms, a tiny smile playing at the corners of her mouth as she wraps her arms around his neck.

Adrien can't tell if he's excited or upset that she's flirting with his alter-ego… if she even is flirting. But the way she's looking at him makes him think she probably definitely is. Which means she likes Papillon. But also means she's sort of cheating on Adrien…

Having a secret identity is really goddamn complicated.

Regardless, he flashes a Casanova grin, and takes off, soaring across the skies. She gasps at the view, and the look on her face is the excitement of a kid. The same thrill he still gets from flying.

"Wanna see something cool?" he asks softly, careful not to disturb the incredible serenity of a hundred feet over Paris' skyline.

"Yes," she whispers, reverently.

Smiling, he glides along the air currents, and pulls his wings up, sending them into a loop-de-loop. She gasps, and clings to him, and he laughs freely, holding her tight. "I've got you. Just enjoy the ride!"

"I am!" she laughs right along with him. "This is incredible!"

He beams at that, and attempts a dive, sending them toward a roof before pulling up at the last second. Her screams of terror and excitement send him reeling with pleasure.

"D-don't we need to get to school?" she giggles, breathlessly. "As fun as this is."

He smiles. "You're right, as always, Pr- Marinette," he says, soaring through the skies toward Francois Dupoint, and letting her down gently on the steps, kissing her hand softly. "We should do this again though."

"Yeah, we… what am I saying?" she shakes her head. "I'll think about it, okay?"

He nods, and is not prepared for her getting up on tiptoe and kissing his cheek quickly before dashing into the school.

He carefully hovers a hand over his cheek, blushing.

That's cheating on him. With him, but still…

But it's so adorable, he can't be mad.

He detransforms behind the steps, and heads in after her, into the library… and… are they playing video games?

"What's going on?" he asks Kim.

"Competition for the Mecha Strike Tournament," he explains. "It's a formality, but we have to do it."

"Why's it a formality?"

"Max always takes the second spot, Marinette the first. Nobody can beat them."

Adrien raises an eyebrow, thinking. He's pretty good at games… plenty of free time as a kid does that. And competing alongside Marinette might just be a chance to fix their broken relationship…

"I'll take a crack at it," he says, just as Marinette wins the game. She looks surprised, turning to see him, but hands over the controller.

"Um, Adrien, babe, you know that Max is really, really good at this, right?" she asks him, looking worried.

"I know. Don't worry, I'm not exactly new to this," he reassures her, taking the controller with a smile.

"Okay…"

He sits in front of the screen, confidently running a finger along the edge of the controller. "Let's do this."

The battle is brutal, and trickier than he expected, but years of experience are Adrien's friend. Slowly, Max's HP slips, and with a particularly tricky combo that took him ages to master, he finishes off his opponent.

Max is stunned, and for a moment, Adrien feels guilty.

By now, though, he has plenty of experience writing off guilt.

"Congratulations!" Marinette grins. "So, looks like we're partners?"

"In more than one way," he winks, pulling her in for a quick kiss. She blushes, barely kissing back.

"Meet me at my place to practice," she instructs him, smiling. The guilt in her eyes is clear, and Adrien is certain that even if he wasn't the guy she'd semi-cheated on him with, he'd know something was up.

But that doesn't matter.

He's going to fix this relationship.

Even if he has to make an akuma to do it.


	24. Chapter 24

Adrien heads to Marinette's house that day at lunch, kissing her as soon as she opens the door. She giggles, but gently pushes him away. "Now's not the time," she says, looking up to him. "I… we need to practice."

He nods, but lets a slight frown show. "Princess, is something wrong?" It is. They both know it. She just doesn't know he does.

This is so messed up.

She takes his hand, pulling him up the stairs to her room. He smiles, seeing his picture in a frame on her desk. "Nice."

"We're dating, it's allowed," she smirks, pulling a chair up to the computer.

Then she turns on the screen…

Well.

"Um, Marinette, were you stalking me?" he asks, looking at the multitude of his images, surrounded by hearts.

She goes bright red, and looks down. "Stalking? No. Interested enough that I asked you to be my boyfriend? Already established."

He smiles, wrapping an arm around her shoulders, but feels her tense under him. "Seriously, what's wrong?" he asks, looking deep into her eyes.

She sighs, and carefully presses her lips to his. "I love you. And I want to be with you so, so bad. But… you know that… that I…"

"That you…?"

She shakes her head. "I can't do this right now. Can't we have this conversation later?"

He sighs, and fluffs her hair softly. His mess of a princess. "Sure."

As they play, he feels something breaking, taking root in his chest. It's the same crack he felt when he first held out the umbrella for this girl. It hurts… and it's tearing him apart… and he can't stop it from consuming him.

Love, he thinks. This is what love is.

He doesn't notice his bag open, releasing three butterflies into her bedroom. He doesn't notice when one- Highness- nests in his gold curls.

"Adrien!"

His head snaps toward her, and the butterfly flits through the room. "Yes?"

She blushes, looking down. "I-I saw a butterfly… I was worried you were being akumatized… although I'd kill him if he did that, but I mean, god, don't get akumatized Adrien, I couldn't take that!" She looks up, blue eyes full of emotion.

He nods. "Of course, Princess. I'd never do anything to hurt you. I swear."

She nods, and looks away. "Right. Okay, let's get back to playing."

This isn't working.

She won't talk to him, and she won't let him in.

How does one even find a way to convince ones girlfriend to stop cheating on one with one's super villain alter-ego without sounding like a maniac?

"Can we take a little break?" he asks finally. "Go to the park, maybe?"

She sighs. "Okay. I guess so."

He's already making plans for an akuma that will bring them back together.

…

Marinette is flooded with guilt every time Adrien gives her that look of complete devotion, tinged with sadness. She's hurting him, she knows, and she can't seem to stop.

As he holds the door for her, she turns away, unable to meet his eyes. "Princess, can't you just tell me?" he asks, closing the door behind her.

She can't. She can't tell him that those things he hated her for under Dark Cupid's influence are entirely accurate. She can't tell this boy, this perfect, kind boy who would take a bullet for her in a heartbeat, that she keeps going back to the jackass terrorist who makes remarks about her breasts and tortures innocent kids and takes her flying and kisses with so much pure freedom behind his lips…

"Nothing's wrong," she murmurs. "We're okay."

He looks almost disappointed, but hides it. "If you change your mind, please tell me."

"Sure thing," she looks away.

He takes her hand as they head to the park. As they cross through the gates and sit on a bench, he pulls her hands towards him. "Marinette… I saw."

She pulls away. "Saw what?"

"I saw you kiss Papillon."

She tenses, pulling her hands away. "I… I don't know what you're talking about," she says. Her brain is numb, and she feels cold suddenly, although the day is lovely. His eyes are so bright and pain-filled, and he's looking at her with this worry and fear and love, so much love, but…

"We both know that you do. I thought it was over, Marinette. I thought…"

She looks away. "It was supposed to be…"

"You've been lying to me so much… you can't even look at me anymore… Is it… is it because of Dark Cupid?"

She turns to him, shocked. "W-what?"

"I said so many things to you, I tried to hurt you, I… I kissed Ladybug… Did I lose your trust? I… I understand if… If I did, but please, please just tell me!" he begs, looking for all the world like a kicked puppy.

She shakes her head, holding back tears. "Oh, Adrien… no, I would never fault you for that, it wasn't you…"

"Then why?" he's clearly trying to keep it together. "Why don't you trust me anymore?"

"I do, Adrien, please-"

"I have to go," he gets up. "I'll be right back."

"Adrien…"

"I love you, Marinette," he tells her, and leaves her alone on the bench, fighting tears.

"I-I love you t-too, Adrien…"

…

He fumbles with his backpack, releasing a black and green butterfly.

"Hey, Danny, can you help me out?" he asks, voice breaking. "I n-need you to go after Max. Then I can be the hero for Marinette… I'll show her Adrien's the hero, and Papillon's… I don't know… this has to fix things."

Nuru flies out of Adrien's pocket. "Adrien… this is an awful idea. What happens when she finds out the truth, finds out you manipulated her?"

He shakes his head. "This situation is too complicated to solve normally."

"So you make it WAY MORE COMPLICATED?"

"Just transforme moi."

The contract is swift, and Adrien finishes it with his usual statement… almost.

"And this is very important. You are not allowed to hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng… but you can and must make her believe you will. Anything that doesn't hurt her is free game. Scare her. And let Adrien Agreste save her."

"What…?"

"Do you want the power or not?"

"I do! Okay!"

"Good." Adrien severs the connection, already hearing screams. "I'm doing this for us, Marinette," he murmurs… and drops the transformation, racing to 'save' the love of his life.


	25. Chapter 25

She's trying not to cry, and feels her heart breaking apart. It's her own fault, she knows. You can't cheat on your boyfriend with a criminal and NOT have him get upset about it. Of course Adrien wasn't happy. Of course they fought. What did she expect?

Somehow, she thought she could get away with having both. She can't imagine how, though...

"Princess, run!"

She looks up to see Adrien racing toward her, hand outstretched.

Slowly, she turns to see...

Oh no.

"Level up, Marinette!" The akuma cries out, rampaging through the city streets. Heeding Adrien's words, dhe jumps up and starts sprinting away as fast as her legs can take her... To transform. Probably not what he meant, but...

He grabs her hand before she can leave, and pulls her along with him.

"Adrien?"

"I'm not letting that thing touch you," he tells her. Something about his declaration sounds... Off, but she can't put her finger on it. "I'm going to keep you safe for this one."

Well, this is just fantastic.

"Adrien, I... I can't stay here with you, I need to... I just..."

"What do you need to do that's more important than your safety?" he demands, crossing his arms and stepping in front of her. "That akuma's out for blood. Our blood specifically. I'm not letting you-"

She cuts him off by throwing her arms around his neck and kissing him, with more vigor than she ever has, nearly knocking him over. She breaks away, leaving him stunned. "You can't 'let' me do something, Adrien. I make my own decisions. See you," she waves, and dashes off, leaving him watching after her.

Leaving him alone.

...

Gabriel has never been good at video games. Ergo, this akuma is not something he relishes fighting. However, with the mask on and claws out, he's certainly going to make an effort.

Still, he's very relieved when his bug daughter shows up and starts talking about "HP" and "Levels" that he can hardly understand. This is one area where he can and will admit that a teenager is more experienced that he is.

"If we can get a mecha of our own, we'll stand a chance," she finishes her lengthy explanation.

"Just a chance?"

"Better than a chance. I can beat Max any day of the week, so we should be okay!" She gives a very cheerful smile... But it doesn't quite reach her eyes.

"Something wrong, Little Lady?"

She bites her lip and hangs her head. "My boyfriend saw me kiss Papillon. And we're fighting. And he tried to play hero and 'protect' me whenthe akuma came and I couldn't let him, so now he's probably upset about that, too."

"Kid."

"Yes?"

"What did I tell you about having two boyfriends?"

She looks down. "Not to..."

"This is why."

She sighs. "Look, can you just Cataclysm the mecha please?"

He nods. "You got it, Little Lady."

Mr. Noir uses Cataclym!

... It is not very effective.

The mecha disintegrates, spitting out a glowing ball... And quickly reforms, thanks to having "saved" the "game."

"This. This is why I don't play video games," he groans.

The kiddrops to the ground beside him. "Why aren't you grabbing the ball?" she asks, clearly annoyed.

"Is that what you do?"

"YES!"

Well then.

He grabs the ball, and suddenly, they find themselves in... A giant robot. How lovely. Gabriel is starting to hate the fact that Papillon is a teenager. Really, really hate that. If the obsession with video games is like wildfire, teenagers are trees. Why, even his own son is in a gaming tournament of some sort with his little girlfriend!

The fight begins, and suddenly the kid is screaming at him to shoot, and somehow piloting a giant robot expertly... But they seem to be losing, if the charts overhead are any indication.

"Use your lucky charm, kid!" he calls to her.

"On it!" she yells back, before summoning... A can of spray paint.

"Can you pilot this for a sec?" she asks.

"Kid, I can barely-"

"Thanks!" she chirps, and exits the mecha...

Somehow, Gabriel manages to keep the thing standing while she breaks a nerd's glasses with a bottle of spray paint, and he comes to accept that his bug daughter is probably almost definitely a delinquent in normal life.

...

Adrien finds her under a tree, sitting on the grass.

"Hey."

She looks up. "Oh... Hi, Adrien."

"Can I... Can I sit with you?"

She nods. "Of course."

He sits down. "Marinette."

"Adrien."

"You... I love you, so much. I'm willing to forget today ever happened if you are."

She looks up, surprised. "You'd forgive me? Just like that?"

"I'll forgive anything," he tells her, tucking a stand of hair behind her ear. "I love you. I want that to be enough for us."

She rests her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes. "I want that to be enough for us too," she whispers.

He strokes her hair, and feels himself break a little more. Part of him is screaming in pain, and that part can hear her crying, struggling against something... Him? Impossible...

He pushes her bangs back to kiss her forehead, and she giggles, booping his nose. They're the perfect picture of sweet affection, puppy love. It feels undeniably right in each others' arms.

But Adrien can't help but wonder how long they're going to be able to keep this up.


	26. Chapter 26

Adrien watches through darkened sunglasses as Marinette talks with Alya. A butterfly rests by them, and makes its way back to Adrien after a little bit.

"What were they talking about, Serena?" he murmurs to the dark grey butterfly. "Is her heart still mine?"

"Okay, Adrien, this is getting creepy."

He turns around to see Nino, frowning at him. "What do you mean?"

"You're talking to a butterfly as if it's a spy on your girlfriend. You're wearing creepy af sunglasses. You're staring her down like some kind of predator. That's not how we normal people do romance, dude," his friend grins, swinging an arm around his shoulders. "In fact, that's how people end up getting restraining orders!"

"My Princess isn't going to file a restraining order against me," Adrien laughs, waving Nino off. "She loves me, and I love her."

"Then why are you fake-spying on her using butterflies?"

"It's a kink of hers," the blond roles his eyes. "C'mon, I'm just trying to pass the time."

"Fine. Then can we at keast do something as a group after school? Something that won't end in you and Mari either crying or making out?"

Adrien sighs, looking at the butterfly perched on his finger. Nino's right, he's barely seen anyone but Marinette in a long time... That's what happens when you're obses- er, in love.

"Alright," he shrugs. "How about the zoo? I hear there's a new panther exhibit."

"Great. The last thing you need is to see another predator... Then again, one of the heroes of Paris is a black cat, so maybe it'd do you some good!" Nino smiles, leaving Adrien staring at him.

"How does your thought process even work?"

"In weird ways, young Adrien. In very weird ways."

...

Marinette walks out of school with Alya, and... Collides headlong with her boyfriend.

"Sorry! Sorry!" she blushes, gathering her books, with his help of course. Adrien might be a little strange at times, but he's nothing if not a gentleman.

"Don't worry about it," he smiles, kissing her cheek. "I was going to look for you anyway. Nino and I were going to head to the zoo to check out that new panther exhibit; we thought you and Alya might come along."

She raises an eyebrow. "A black cat, huh? Like Mr. Noir?"

This elcits a groan from Adrien. "Why does everyone keep saying that? A panther! An apex predator! Not an old man!"

"Not a fan of the heroes, are you?" Alya frowns, crossing her arms. "After all they do for us?"

He shakes his head. "It's not that, I'm just a little tired of hearing about them."

Marinette frowns. She already knew, of course, that Adrien didn't want to kiss her alter-ego, but she just took that as a sign of faithfulness to her, opposed to a girl he'd never met... Which of course, makes her feel more than a little guilty sometimes... But not a sign of dislike. Ladybug and Mr. Noir are heroes, and Adrien has more reasons than most to dislike Papillon, seeing as he's not just a super villain, but the guy his girlfriend cheated with. How odd...

"So, would you like to come?" he asks again.

"Oh, yeah, definitely!" Alya smiles. "It'd be a great opportunity for us to hang out together!"

Marinette nods in agreement, smiling up at Adrien, trying to ignore the darkness she sees in his eyes when he stares into hers.

...

That afternoon, Marinette's mother calls her down. "Marinette, there's a young man across the street who's been watching the bakery for quite some time. Do you know him?"

She looks out the window to see... Adrien, hair tousled by the wind and eyes focused on the window... On her.

"Yes, Maman, that's actually my boyfriend, Adrien... You met him?"

"Oh! He looks... Much more tired than when I last saw him," Sabine says, frowning. "His behavior is a bit alarming, I was worried you'd aquired a stalker."

"I'll talk to him about it. We're supposed to go to the zoo together in ten minutes, maybe he's waiting for me."

"He's been there since you got home."

That causes some warning bells to go off in her head. But no, this is Adrien, sweet, kind, Adrien, who would never do something like stalk her... Right?

She steps out, and crosses the street to him, his green eyes following her every move.

"You can stop staring," she tells him, face flushed.

He quickly looks away. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable, you just look so beautiful today!"

"Maman says you've been watching the bakery all afternoon. Is something wrong?" the girl bites her lip, worry creasing her forehead.

"Ah, no, nothing at all, I'm just excited to see you!" he smiles, going in to kiss her.

For a second, Marinette is sure she's not going to kiss him. She's going to step back and demand he explain himself... But instead, she closes her eyes and kisses him back. His lips are as soft and welcoming as always, and it feels undeniably right to be in his arms...

"Okay, lovebirds, are we going to go see this panther or are you two going to make out the whole time?"

They jump apart to see Alya smirking, on eyebrow raised, and Nino holding back laughter behind her.

"We're coming," Marinette smiles brightly, erasing any trace of discomfort. It's Adrien, her sweet, understanding Adrien, clearly the right choice, the non-psychotic one. He's not going to stalk her. He loves her...

And she loves him... right?

...

He can't figure out what's wrong.

Well, okay, he has a pretty good idea what's wrong. His behavior is bordering on illegal. He knows it's wrong. Everything he's been doing so far is wrong. The secret identity thing is, as far as relationships go, really wrong!

Still, though, it's them. They can fix it. He knows it's true love.

As they walk into the zoo, he slips away, pulling Nuru out of his pocket.

"Am I doing the right thing?"

"Adrien, you never do the right thing," the kwami sighs. "But as far as Marinette goes... You love her, I can tell, and I think she would love you... If you let her."

"What does that mean?"

Nuru smiles mysteriously. "Oh, my sweet sunshine child, you'll find out someday. I hope you get a happy ending, but I can't give it to you. You have to make one for yourself." With that, the kwami dives into his bag.

"Helpful. Really," Adrien mutters. He turns back to his Princess, as she watches an exhibit of... Butterflies. "Well... Time to make my happy ending."


	27. Chapter 27

Gabriel wanders through the zoo, frowning. Plagg told him to come here, something about a "zoo-ish omen," whatever that means. But Gabriel knows that his kwami, no matter how annoying, is usually right.

And in any case, there's something Plagg has been putting off talking about.

"So," Gabriel leans against a tree. "You know, a few days ago, you said my wife was alive. But she's been missing for quite a while, and my son saw her run into a building right before it blew up. I think I deserve an explanation on that."

The kwami frowns. "I was wondering when you were going to bring that up again. But look, I told you before, I only know that she's alive, nothing else."

Gabriel shakes his head. "Plagg, I have to find her. It's Bridgette. I... I promised her that I'd always be there to rescue her."

"Yes, and she tripped you, sending you falling off a roof where you sprained you ankle. And the neck day in school, 'Oh, Gabriel! What happened? Are you okay? Want some tea? It comes with sedatives so I can take pictures of you sleeping for my creepy shrine!' 'Leave me alone, Miss, we will never be friends because you are creepy as hell.' Right?" Plagg laughs at the memory.

Gabriel frowns. "Still. A promise is a promise. Also I love her."

"Look, Gabe-"

"Gabriel."

"Fine, Gabriel. I want to help. This time, I really do. You two are both so messed up that you're perfect together. Infact, I'm shocked that Adrien ended up as normal as he did, being raised by a yandere mother and a tsundere father-"

"What is a yandere and what is a tsundere?"

Plagg frowns. "You really don't listen when Adrien talks, do you? They're anime things. Basically, your wife is a psychotic stalker with a love of knives and you are a jerk who pretends not to feel human emotions and is oft times borderline abusive to people you care about. You are really lucky Adrien didn't turn out completely nuts."

"This is not what I wanted to talk about," Gabriel mutters, annoyance clear. "Look. Just... Please. Plagg, you're an actual god. You have to have some way to help her."

The kwami sighs. "The ring and earrings, of course, but Gabriel..."

"I can't have that kind of power," he finishes. "I know. I had it once, didn't end well, not trying it again, I promise. But can't you do anything else?"

Plagg shakes his head. "The best I can do is give you a little extra time transformed at night to look for her. I'd wish you luck, but, you know... "

"Any luck from you is liable to get me and her killed."

"Yeah."

"Well, if she's alive, I'll never stop looking for her. Be prepared for a lot of long nights."

"Always am!"

It's then that they hear the screams.

...

Adrien knows the akuma isn't that powerful. He knows that he only made it to end the date, end Marinette's cringing away and his constant compulsion to watch and analyze her every move. He knows he's being a real creep, that he can't own someone, and that Marinette has every right to be alarmed by his actions.

That does not mean that he will, or even that he can, stop.

She started pulling away after he watched her house for so long, but it had come to a headway after he tried to kiss her after seeing another guy look at her.

"Adrien, no," she said, pushing him away. "You only want to kiss me to mark your territory, or something. I saw you glaring at those boys. You've been acting really jealous since..."

"Since I found out I have reason to be?"

It slipped out. He didn't mean it, and he tried to take it back, but her face went blank, cold. "I thought you forgave me for that. Are you actually going to stalk me to make sure I don't kiss another guy on the cheek?"

"Princess-"

"Don't! Adrien, just..." She pulled away. "I'm going with Alya to the bird room. I need a minute alone. If you even trust me with that much."

So he let off steam in the best way he knew how- finding the most pissed-off person in the zoo, and making an akuma.

He watches Animan, and fights tears. If Marinette chose Papillon to start with, he'd have been a little shocked, but still happy. If she'd stuck with her choice of Adrien, he'd have stayed as excited as he was when they first started. He knows he'd never fall out of love with her, no mater what.

But she didn't choose. She dated Adrien, sure, but she was flirting with Papillon too. Maybe he should be happy- she liked him on both sides of the mask, after all.

But he can't stop thinking that if she flirted with one "other guy," there is a large chance that someone else- someone who isn't actually him- could steal her.

"Go get my happy end," he mutters, sitting on top of one of the cages. "Yeah, right."

"Papillon."

He turns around to see Lady Luck herself watching him. "Yeah? Aren't you going to go take down the akuma, and foil my evil plan again? It's not even a strong one, I mostly made it to distract myself from my love life."

She laughs. She's strangely pretty when she laughs. Almost like Marinette. "I didn't realize super villains had time for love lives."

"Well, I'm not exactly a super villain... Not a typical one," he tries to smile. "I mean, I never wanted to be... But I have spmeone I need to save, and the Miraculous is the only way I've heard of to do it."

She sighs, and suddenly, Adrien is being hugged by Paris' hero, and his arch-enemy. "I can't just give them up. You're too volatile to have all that power. But I am here if you need someone just to talk to. Okay?"

He sighs, and nods. "I hope I haven't lost control of the akuma dor the hundredth time..." he murmurs.

"I better go fight you," she smiles. "And hey, maybe your love life will sort itself out."

With that, she gives him a quick, soft kiss, and swings away by her yo-yo.

Adrien can't help but let a slight grin grace his face. She tastes like cookies and peppermint... Just a tiny bit more bite in her kiss than his Princess.

"Maybe so, my Lady."


	28. Chapter 28

Gabriel watches as his bug daughter leaps down beside him after kissing the supervillain. Again. Which she keeps telling him she's going to stop doing.

"Really, kid?"

She sighs. "Look, I know I said I wasn't going to anymore, but my boyfriend lost his mind and now he's stalking me, so if you think about it, Papillon might actually be the safer option, and anyway I'm mad at Adr- at my boyfriend, and he doesn't even know it's me who kissed Papillon this time, so-"

"Young Lady. Your dating habits are worse than mine were at your age. And that is saying something," he groans softly, rubbing his temple. "Just, don't let him get your earrings? Can you do that at the very least?"

She nods. "Yeah, I know. Hey, what if it was just Ladybug dating Papillon, and civilian-me stays with the other guy? Then it's not really cheating, right?"

"Yes, kid. It really is."

She has the audacity to pout. As in, actually pout. She's better at it than Adrien, if that's possible. "Let's just defeat the stupid animal guy and go home. Papillon already told me that he just made this one to distract himself from his love life-"

"Oh, he's got a messy love life too? Let me guess, a girlfriend he's now cheating on with you. Because superheroes and supervillains dating, that's a really great idea. Top notch."

She glares at him. "There is a Tyranosaurus Rex tearing through the city. Are you seriously going to lecture me about cheating on my boyfriend with a supervillain who's probably cheating on his girlfriend?"

Gabriel gives a long-suffering sigh, the sigh of a man who is on the brink of just giving up on these goddamn teenagers that he somehow ended up working with/against.

"Back in my day, you know, the supervillains were much older. At least mid-thirties, most likely older. And the heroes, we weren't trying to get with them. That was a much better system."

"Yeah, well excuse me for liking a cute guy who takes me flying and kisses really well!"

"We've had this conversation so many times."

The bug child turns, and starts swinging towards the fight. The message- "This conversation is over"- is clear.

Honestly, though, Gabriel knows that he's trying to distract himself from the voice at the back of his head, screaming Bridgette's name.

...

"Gabriel!"

He turned to see the blonde running towards him, red umbrella swirling, and marveled at the incredible luck that she managed not to maim anyone this far with it. "Oh. You."

She bounced around like a little puppy. "Gabe, guess what?"

"Please don't call me Gabe."

"Whatever, there's a school dance coming up, and you're coming with me!" She beamed, seemingly oblivious to his look of distaste.

"I have plans," he lied calmly.

She frowned for half a second, but the grin lit up her face once more before five seconds passed. "What kind of plans? Can I come?" She clung to his arm.

He calmly, but firmly removed her. "Um... No. No, you cannot."

She really did frown this time, looking utterly dejected. "Why don't you ever want to hang out, Gabriel?"

He clenched his teeth. "I prefer to spend my time alone, thank you." The little demon kwami was laughing at him for whatever reason. Perhaps it found his annoyance amusing? Regardless, Bridgette looked down.

"Gabriel... I love you. But you could see me get jumped in the street, and you'd just watch, wouldn't you? Wouldn't you?"

"You're being overdramatic."

"Yes! I am! But at least I have emotions!" There were tears in her eyes. "God, Gabe, I try so hard. Why? Why won't you ever...?"

He sighed, and, knowing that he'd regret it later, wrapped his arms around the crying girl, letting her sob into his chest. "For the record," he muttered, "if you were ever in real danger, I'd help you. I may not love you, but I won't see you hurt."

She looked up at him, tears staining her face, looking incredibly vulnerable. "Y-you won't?"

"I won't."

"Then... Please, just this once... Kiss me?"

...

Marinette takes the T. Rex down easily, as Papillon said she would. Of course, it takes a particularly dangerous maneuver where she jumps into the creature's mouth, and she's pretty sure she almost given Mr. Noir a heart attack, but it is, overall, and easy fight.

By the time it's over, though, she's come to a very hard, very difficult decision.

Detransforming, she runs out to see her friends, and... Adrien.

He's not looking at her.

"Adrien."

"Yes, Princess?"

"We need to talk."

He nods, and they leave Alya and Nino alone. When they get to the butterfly room, Marinette decides to stop. It's fitting, sort of. The butterflies were what caused this.

"This isn't working," she says. "We're not working. I want us to, but... If this was working, I wouldn't be kissing Papillon, and you wouldn't be following me around."

He nods. "I... I know. But, Princess, Marinette, I love you so much, can't we fix it?" His green eyes are overfliwing with pain and hope.

She can't look at him, because right now, the fear they hold outweighs any love.

"We can't. Not right now. We need a break."

"A... Break?"

"Some time apart. Not forever. Not yet. But... I can't be with you. I can't belong to you," she whispers, trying not to cry.

"Princess-"

"Don't, Adrien." She shakes her head, clenching and releasing her fists. "I love you. Part of me always will. But for now... It's over."

She walks away, and doesn't look back.

...

Adrien looks in his mirror. "She left..."

"Yeah, of course she left. She prefers me to you," Papillon smirked back.

"No... No, she said she loves me. And you... You are me."

"Am I though? Would Adrien Agreste willingly harm innocent people? Would the sweet, moral boy become such a monster?" Papillon laughed from the mirror. "It's not really you, is it? That's why you were so angry at her for kissing me, and felt no guilt when I kissed Lady Luck. We're not really the same, are we? Not in your head."

Something inside him knows that he's not really talking to Papillon. It's all just him.

But that can't be right, can it?

Shaking off the mess of his emotions, he calls to Nuru. "Please. Just transfom me."

In a flash, his wings are rising over the city.

He hears someone singing, over the wind.

"In the middle of the fight, there's no wrong, there's no right, just make it through the night, and never give in..."

He follows the song, across the buildings.

"To your conscience as it screams, and you let go of your dreams, and the moment when it seems that you could win..."

She's sitting at the top of the Eiffel, her voice carrying over the air above the city.

"Don't get to attached to freedom, don't take for granted breathing, when you break it won't be clean and..." Her eyes meet his. "Just remember what you once believed in..."

Her voice trails off, as they watch each other.

"You sing beautifully, Lady Luck," he says eventually.

"Thanks," she smiles slightly, looking over the city. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

"Not that it's your business, but... I broke up with my boyfriend," she admits. "I came up here to get away."

"Yeah... My girlfriend broke up with me today, too," he says, sitting beside her. "I couldn't stop thinking, so I thought I'd fly for a little bit."

She turns to him, with those blue eyes, so much like Marinette's. "You know how I said that maybe your love life would work itself out?"

They stand almost simultaneously. He looks into her eyes, worry creasing his mask. "I don't think I want you to be with someone who's going to be hiding from the police for the rest of his life."

She smiles, a red-covered hand brushing golden curls out of his eyes gently. "I do," she laughs softly, and with that, she rises to her tiptoes, and their lips collide.


	29. Chapter 29

They break apart from the kiss, both gasping for breath.

"Hi," she grins up at him, blue eyes bright. If he focuses just on her eyes, it's like looking at Marinette...

"You know, you're being awfully foolish, Lady Luck," he chuckles darkly. "Even I know that opening yourself up to your enemies like this will hurt you in the long run. And," he runs a finger over her earlobe, "I have access to your earrings."

She raises an eyebrow... Or it looks like she does. Honestly, with the mask, it can be tricky to tell. "Try to take them. Just try. It won't end well for you unless you can convince me to give them up willingly, and that won't happen."

He grins, and kisses her again, feeling her body melt against his, every nerve on fire. "I'm going to see another girl when I look at you," he murmurs against her lips, between kisses. "I'm going to be thinking of Marinette the whole time."

She giggles, and runs her fingers through his curls. "I'm down with that. I just might have someone else in mind too, so we're even," she croons, pushing her body up against him. It's a feeling no single teenage boy would refuse.

He lets his hands slide all over her, making her jump when he goes too low. "So we'll use each other then?"

"Y-yes," she whispers , guiding his hands gently. "I'd like to use you. It's better than just being owned."

"Lied to," he hisses against her lips, sliding a hand where she motions him to.

"Never trusted," she nearly moans, and he begins pressing kisses down her chin, to her neck. The costume is incredibly thin...

"Cheated on," he growls, biting diwn on her neck.

She gasps, and her voice comes out filled with pain and want. "Adrien, please!"

He grins. So, Ladybug likes his civilian self as much as Marinette likes Papillon, hmm? "Please, what?"

"Keep going! Mark me, if you're that jealous! Prove I'm yours!"

He sees her eyes, and spits out a "Yes, Princess," before going back to her neck, biting and sucking at the skin as she unknowingly moans his name. He laughs slightly, getting an idea...

Eventually, he finishes marking her neck, and presses one last kiss to her lips. "I bid you farewell, Lady Luck..." He makes a grab for her earrings, but finds his wrist caught by a red hand.

"No way, Papillon," she snickers.

"Don't you mean Adrien?" he taunts her, before spreading his wings, and taking off into the sky.

...

Marinette blushes the neck- er, next- day, looking in the mirror at the messy, but still very obvious, butterfly hicky on her neck.

"Seriously?" she mutters. "Why? Just why?" She can't deny that she likes the mark, but there is no way she's letting anyone else see it.

She throws on a scarf, and heads out...

Only to run smack into Alya, who is holding two tickets.

"Guess who has something incredible?" she beams, striding into the room.

Marinette taps her chin with one finger. "Hmm... Is it... Alya Cesairè?"

Alya throws an arm around her friend. "I caught some steamy footage last night, at the top of the freaking Eiffel tower!"

A sick feeling in her stomach, Marinette looks at Alya's phone. "W-what? How were you...? How did you even...?"

"Couldn't sleep, went out, check this!" Alya plays the video.

Marinette's eyes widen. You can just hear her calling something out... Luckily, it's impossible to tell what. Unluckily, you can ckearly see Papillon and her making out. She watches in horror as the video continues, and Papillon starts sucking on her neck. "Alya, this is really perverse. Why are you showing me this?"

"Because, Marinette, this means that Paris' most dangerous terrorist is in a secret relationship with one of the heroes! Who knows how long this has been going on? The public has a right to know!"

Marinette frowns. "I'm deleting this," she says, going to do so, but before she can, Alya pulls the phone out of her hand.

"Oh, no you are not! Mari, this could be a huge cover-up! That evil monster has seduced our heroine!" Alya insists.

"He is not an evil monster!"

Alya crosses her arms, clearly getting annoyed. "Marinette, he's turned our classmates into his demons. He destroys the city on a daily basis. Of course he's a monster!"

The doorbell rings. Marinette sighs, and opens the door...

"Marinette," he looks up at her with puppy eyes, holding a dozen roses. "Please, I-"

She shakes her head. "Not today, Adrien," she tells him, closing the door and turning to her friend. "Alya, you can't post that video."

"If I want to post it, I will post it!"

The doorbell rings again, and Marinette slams it open. "I said not today, Adrien!"

Mr. Haprèlè puts his hands up in surrender. "Not Adrien! I'm just here to pick up a hat!"

Marinette cringes. "Mr. Haprèlè! I am so sorry, just a sec, let me get it!" She dashes up the stairs, pulling the hat off her desk, and runs back down, handing it to him. "Good luck with your show tonight!"

He hurries out the door, quick to get away from the clear anxiety coming off of Marinette in waves.

She sighs, and... Alya's gone. Crap!

...

Gabriel sits in the car as his son closes the door, and places the roses down on the seat gently. "She was busy," the boy says, voice showing just a hint of bitterness.

Gabriel sighs, placing a comforting hand on his son's shoulder. "She'll come around. You're an Agreste, we always get the girl in the end..." He thinks for a half-second about Ladybug andhis son kissing. "And you know, if she keeps this up, and stays angry, I have another girl, a sweet little kid who could use a more sane boyfriend."

Adrien smiles up at his father. "Hey, can I get out here? Just for two seconds? I think I have an idea on how to win her back, but I need make an ak- I need to make something for it to work!"

Gabriel smiles. "Be back in ten minutes."

Adrien hugs his father quickly. "Thank you, Father!" he grins, before running out of the car, twisting that pin he always wears... How long has he been wearing that?

Whatever, Gabriel thinks. His son is allowed to wear a pin if he likes. It's probably not that important, right?


	30. Chapter 30

Adrien pulls Nuru out of his jacket. "How do I fix this? Please, you've got to know a way, Nuru, I can't keep living without her, what akuma can I make to get her to love me again?"

Nuru rolls his eyes, clear annoyance filling his features. "Don't stalk her like a psychopath?"

"Helpful."

"Akumas never go well for you, Adrien."

He looks down, rubbing the back of his neck. "If all you have is mind-control, you're not going to be that great of a hero. You know that?"

"All this, for one woman?"

"Just… transform me, okay?"

The kwami can't help but obey, and before long, a vision of twisted beauty is flying high, looking, looking…

"No! What…? But he said…" a man falls to his knees, clearly upset. The man he saw Marinette talking to, and who she gave a hat to… not that either of them knew he was watching.

Yes, this man was perfect.

The akuma slid in without a problem, leaving an incredible power…

The power to make imagination a reality.

…

Marinette races after Alya. "Don't post that video!"

"You can't stop the press, girl! Why does it matter so much to you, anyway?"

Marinette corners Alya, but…

"AKUMA!"

The screams are calling. Marinette sighs, rubbing her forehead. He couldn't have just given her a day to recover after last night? Just one day? Or better yet, stopped the attacks altogether? Well, okay, that was too much to hope for, but honestly, _one_ day isn't!

"This conversation isn't over," she snaps at Alya, before hurrying to transform, and…

Being grabbed by Papillon, and carried directly into the sky.

"Oh my god…" she groans, looking up at the handsome boy. "Look. I am having a really shitty day. It's not going well, not at all. I can't deal with this right now. Let me go, or so help me, I will punch you right in that pretty face."

"I will not let you go," he intoned dramatically. "For I am a dastardly, evil, horrible villain who-"

"Who is making it really hard for me to prevent a clip of you and Ladybug being rather intimate from leaking all over the Lady-Blog. I don't have time for this, Papillon!"

His face pales. "W-what?"

"Yeah. You, and Ladybug. Having a hell of a time at the top of a certain tower."

He flies down, and lets her go. "Okay. So does that at least mean you don't like me anymore?"

"Pardon?"

Papillon shakes his head. "Never mind. Just remember that I am evil and terrible, and you should get back with Adrien."

"Excuse you!" she slaps him quickly. "No, you do not get to say that. Do you have any idea how he treated me? Like I was a possession of his! He stalked me, Butterfly-Boy. STALKED me. That's so not okay, on so many levels, it's just unbelievable. He doesn't understand that love isn't a free pass for all his bullshit, and I just… I can't take it. Not anymore. Don't tell me to take him back. Not before he's made some serious life changes."

…

Adrien feels like he's about to break.

She loves him. She said as much. And he loves her. They love each other. They do! They really do!

But it's not enough, she says. It's not worth it, she says. But love is always worth it in the stories. Love always wins in the movies. If he has love on his side, he can't lose.

That leaves him with a dilemma, though. If she never stopped loving him… how can he make her his?

"What would he have to do?" he asks quietly.

She frowns. "In an ideal world?"

"Yes."

She thinks. "He'd have to let me go. He'd have to show some maturity, and stop suffocating me. In an ideal world, he'd respect that I don't want to be with him right now, and just let us be friends again before anything else happens. I do love him. I hope he knows that. But I don't want a romance like how it was. I don't want to be 'won,' and moreover, I don't want to be owned. As long as he thinks of me as his instead of my own, I can't go back to him. That's all there is."

He cringes at her words, but slowly nods. "I understand, Marinette. I lo- I'm sure he loves you enough to let you go. You're worth the world…"

She smiles slightly, before her smile fades. "You didn't, by any chance, leave an akuma running unchecked through the city and lose control while we were discussing my love life?"

"…SHIT!"

He takes off, and… oh thank god. The connection is still there.

But it's been more than ten minutes… And Ladybug and Mr. Noir are nowhere to be found…

He frowns, and speaks to the akuma.

"Go to the Eiffel. Get the heroes out. Make as much chaos as possible. Okay?"

The akuma doesn't answer. Oh, right. Mimes don't talk.

"I'm going to assume it's okay. Great. I need to go tell my Father I'm not dead, so… go do your thing. And don't hurt Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Great," he shrugs. "This conversation's weird, since I don't know if you agree or even hear me. But okay. See you."

He detransforms behind a building, and races to Gabriel's car.

…

Gabriel is panicking when Adrien races up. "Adrien!"

"I'm sorry! The Mime locked me in a cage, I couldn't get back here in ten minutes…"

Gabriel hugs his son tightly. "It isn't your fault. I swear, I will find a way to bring that monster, Papillon, to justice. Did you at least get what you need to fix things with your girl?"

"She's not mine," Adrien smiles slightly. "She's her own person. I made that mistake, and it cost me. So now, I have to prove I care about her, but don't own her. That's all."

Gabriel feels a strong pride, and hugs his son again. "Stay safe. I have to go, I know how to get the heroes."

Adrien's eyes widen, and he nods. "Of course… Mom had one, of course you'd know about them…"

Gabriel smiles, and presses a finger to his lips. "Don't spread that around. I love you, son."

With that bit of fantastic parenting (if he does say so himself), Gabriel runs off to transform…

…

Adrien's goals are laid out perfectly for him.

Get Marinette back.

Get the Miraculous.

Bring Mom back.

He smiles, and adds to the list: Make the world a better place, for Marinette to be happy in.

For the first time, he knows exactly how to do all of it.


	31. Chapter 31

Marinette can't deal with one more thing today. She is at he maximum limit of things. It's everyone's fault, including hers... but right now, she's just going to blame Adrien and be done with it.

Why blame Adrien? Well, she reasons, if he hadn't been so creepy, she wouldn't have broken up with him. If they hadn't broken up, she'd never have made out with her enemy on camera while moaning someone else's name. If Alya didn't get that footage, Marinette wouldn't have been so short with Mr. Haprèle, and he might not have been akumatized. Also, she's just ticked off at Adrien, and wanted it to be completely justified.

So when Mr. Noir drops in, she immediately starts ranting about it.

"He was being a total creep, so I broke things off, right? I mean, that's the natural thing to do."

"Yes, it is. I'm glad you won't be seeing any more of that super villain."

She frowns. "I was talking about my other boyfriend, actually. A friend of mine ended up getting footage of me and Papillon making out last night. I really need to deal with that before she posts it online..."

Mr. Noir is not impressed. "You know, Young Lady, my wife has been presumed dead for almost a year now. A few months ago, however, my kwami told me she's alive, but I still don't know where she is. Because I'm here, making sure you stay alive and dealing with your romantic messes. So if you want sympathy, go to one of your boyfriends, I can't keep up with which relationship is the least healthy."

Marinette tugs at her ponytail, awkwardly. "Your wife's missing?"

"Yes. She was the last to wear your earrings," he says curtly. "And I might venture to say she knew how to use them a bit better."

Marinette shifts, discomfort clear. "You should look for her. I've been trained, really well. I can survive while you look."

He arches one eyebrow. "Looking could take years."

"Yeah..."

"You think you could survive alone now? You're less mature than when I met you," he tells her, point blank.

"What...?"

"Back then, you cared about fighting, and proving yourself. Now it seems that all you care about is if you're kissing Papillon, your civillian date, or my son!"

"Wait, when did I kiss your son?" she frowns.

"That's not the point."

She bites her lip. "We should go fight the akuma. But afterwards, I'm serious, you should go look for your wife. Leave the city to me. I can put horemones aside when it counts, promise!"

Mr. Noir sighs. "I'm not so sure I can trust you where Papillon is concerned. But if this battle goes well... maybe."

Marinette jumps up, and hugs her mentor tightly. "I promise, I will pay back what you have done for me."

Slowly, she feels him hug her back. "I know you will, Little Lady."

...

Adrien is getting annoyed with this akuma. He can't tell what's going on with him. Because he won't talk. But he's getting a vague feeling that the fight isn't going very well.

"Where are they...?"

Fed up with everything, he jumps up, wings snapping open as he soars over the city of lights...

Why? Why is the akuma holding up the goddamn Eiffel Tower?

He slams down in front of the two heroes, arms crossed. "Okay, look. Clearly you somehow incapacitated the akuma, but I don't know how because he's a stupid MIME who won't TALK to me, so can I please get an update?"

They look very alarmed. Adrien can kind of understand why. As much as Ladybug and he might make out (on camera, apparently), the three of them... well, no need to state the obvious.

"You want an... update?" Ladybug raises an eyebrow.

"Yes. Oh, and Alya from the LadyBlog took footage of you and me last night, just so you know."

"Yes, I'm aware," she rolls her eyes. "We fought the akuma. We won. Enough said."

Adrien frowns. "Now, that's no way to brush off the man you adore, is it, Lucky?"

Mr. Noir cuts in, stepping between the teenagers. "You need to leave, before I we take you in."

"Mr. Noir, I can handle-" she starts, but the old man cuts her off.

"No, no you can't. He's got your horemones on a hook, that much is obvious."

That's... not okay to say. Adrien can see that, and he's less than sane. "Excuse me, sir. She's perfectly in control of herself, we made a mutual decision last night."

"I'm not asking you."

"You should. Clearly I respect her more than you," he points out, before kissing her hand and taking off. Let them get the akuma. He's got a plan.

...

Marinette grabs Alya's arm at the front of the theater, where Mr. Haprèle will be performing.

"Alya, please. Don't post that video."

Alya looks up, smiling. "Oh, that? Deleted it hours ago."

"What?"

"You were right. It's not a good idea to do something like that. Shall we go in?"

Marinette nearly gapes, but decides to count her blessings, heading into the theater with her friend...

"Hey... is this seat taken?"

She looks up to see Adrien, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.

"No. And I can't promise this one will be either if you sit down," she tells him sharply.

He nods, slowly. "I understand. Marinette, I... I'' so sorry. I shouldn't have been so possessive. I just wanted you to know that."

She raises an eyebrow. "Yeah, no. You shouldn't have. You messed up, Adrien."

"I get it." He offers a smile. "But can we maybe be friends...?"

He looks so innocent. He's saying everything she wants to hear. His clear green eyes are filled with love once again.

This is the boy who took a bullet for her.

She looks away. "Just sit down, Adrien. I won't leave."

He practically beams, and sits down. "Thank you. I'm so happy to be your friend again."

She lets a smile trace her lips. Things may just work out.

And with Mr. Noir off looking for his wife... she's ready to run this city.


	32. Chapter 32

Everything is going according to keikaku... er, that is, according to plan... and Adrien is walking on air.

Being Marinette's friend isn't quite like being her boyfriend, but it's still better than having her hate him for stalking her. And he's got a strategy for the first time ever when it comes to the akumas. It's time to pull out the big guns. He's not just doing this for his mother anymore, he's going to save the world, amd remake it as it was meant to be, a place full of kindness, and without pain.

And by then, Marinette will be by his side, the goddess to his god. Well, probably. Hopefully?

He sits in front of her in class, turning to give her a brilliant smile. "Hey, Princess, what's going on?"

She offers a little smile of her own, turning around her sketchbook so he can see the designs inside. "I'm working on a few skirts, using tulle and a satin mix. I was thinking a primary color scheme, to make them really eye-catching, but with secondary edging? How would that look?"

Adrien thinks for a moment. "Okay, but take my advice and don't put in any orange. It's apparently going to be off-season soon, according to my father."

She smiles a bit wider, and makes a note. "Thanks for telling me. That could have been a bit of a mess."

"Hey, do you want to rule the world?"

She blinks, and tilts her head slightly. "Excuse me?"

"Nothing. Never mind."

"Okay..? You're a little weird sometimes, Adrien."

He laughs, and turns to the teacher as class starts, not paying much attention. He's too busy writing down strategy for how to target his own father the fastest, to get at his knowledge of the Miraculous. It's not deranged. It's just smart.

Adrien Agreste is nothing if not smart.

Now, what he needs is a villain who's quiet. Unnoticeable. They won't be a real threat, but they will be good for gathering information. A spy. Someone who is completely invisible would be ideal... but he's already akumatized Nathanaël. And that didn't end too well the first time, he's not about to make a second. So who else around him is invisible, and might feel hurt about that...?

"Chloé, please, I'm so sorry!"

"Adrien!" Chloé walks up to him, looking very upset. "There's a little redhead bug that won't leave me alone. I certainly don't see it, but can you swat it for me?"

There is no way it's that easy...

And, it can't be. Marinette is right there behind him, and he's pretty sure he's on what's called "probation" as far as she's concerned.

"Chloé, you shouldn't call your friend a bug. Anyway, I thought you liked Ladybug?"

Chloé rolls her eyes, and Sabrina gives a grateful smile.

Whatever. He knows Chloé doesn't easily forgive. He'll get Sabrina later.

As he glances back at Marinette, though, he sees her eyes quickly flick back down, a blush coloring her cheeks. "That was sweet of you."

"It's what you would do, right?"

She nods, and they share a slight smile, hers tinged with melancholy. "Yeah. It is."

...

He's not a bad person, amd that's what makes being broken up so depressing. Because she really does miss him. And seeing him defend Sabrina- seeing him invoke her alter ego to defend Sabrina- reminds her of his heroic side, his kindness, his honesty.

Maybe another try would work out?

But then she remembers him grabbing her arm and kissing her, without love, but with only jealousy and possessiveness. She remembers seeing him staring at her house, or watching her, or talking to those weird butterflies like they were spying on her for him...

Adrien isn't a bad person, but he can be a real creep when he gets jealous, and she can't deal with that...

Can she?

Maybe...?

She sketches in the margins of her notebook. Violet wings and grassy green eyes. The two boys she really, really should not be interested in. A stalker and a sociopath.

Mr. Noir is right, she has no idea what to do with her screwed up love life. But he's not around anymore...

...

Gabiel hopes he's making the right decision. The right decision for the city, and for the little Ladybug. He knows it's the right decision for him... and Bridgette.

Bridgette.

The deranged manic pixie, he used to call her, with her crazy-bright red lipstick, wild tangled hair, and obsession with him. But things changed once they got the Miracle stones. When she wasn't obsessed with him, Bridgette was strong, smart, violently beautiful, and in a constant competition with the world. She could kick his ass any day of the week, and she did for a while...

But as the days turned into weeks, and the weeks to months, they started to trust each other. She told him about her crush, codenamed "Felix," and he offered to destroy him more than once... not knowing that he was offering to off himself, or course. But it got to the point where, if she told him with sincerity to jump off the Eiffel, he'd gladly do it.

When the reveal went down, he was more than a little shocked, but still loved her. He proposed a week later, and within two years, Adrien was born.

He doesn't like dwelling on the earlier days too much, though, since he'd have to admit how hypocritical he is or the Little Lady having such messed up relationships when he married his stalker.

He smiles, packing his suitcase, and waits for his son to come home. He's going to have to tell Adrien that it's a business trip... Adrien, who not a year ago saw Bridgette blow up... but Plagg wouldn't lie about something like this. Bridgette has to be alive, as impossible as it might seem now. He's been blocking it out for so long, and now he has to do something to save his wife.

Save her, before it's too late.


	33. Chapter 33

So he didn't get to Sabrina. Okay.

"Adrien," Marinette's voice calls after him, soft, sweet, and a touch nervous. "Adrien, can we talk? Please?"

He fixes a smile on his face, turning... and watches her flinch back, stopping. "What's wrong, Princess?"

"Y-your eyes are cold again," she stammers out, looking at him with this hurt... hurt that he never wanted to see, much less be the cause of, oh god, no... she calms down slightly as he freaks out. "I just wanted to say that... I appreciate you giving me space, and what you said to Sabrina was nice..." She looks down, tugging at the end of a ponytail. "And I... I kissed another guy and said your name!"

The last part is what throws him off. "You what now?"

"There... there was this other guy... his girlfriend broke up with him the same day we..."

"The same day you broke up with me?"

"Yeah. That day." She blushes awkwardly. "And... we made out. And I said your name."

He isn't sure why she is telling him this. "That's... yeah, you have just succeeded in making me very, very jealous. If that's what you were going for, then congrats I guess."

"It wasn't..."

"Then please explain why you want me to know this kind of thing."

She responds by grabbing his jacket and kissing him. It's familiar, this kiss... the way she's kissing him, this passion, this agression... her body against his... every nerve on... fire...

He pulls the scarf she's worn since that night down.

A butterfly is bruised into her neck.

"Did he give you this?" he asks, softly. She nods, slowly looking up to meet his eyes. "Mark you, since I'm too jealous? Prove you're his?"

She gasps slightly, eyes wide at his words... so similar to the order Ladybug had given him, before he put that same mark on her neck. It's there. He sees it.

"Interesting." He tugs the scarf back up, covering Papillon's mark. "So, are you with him, and just cheated with me? Or did you and he break up already?"

"We were... mutually using each other. He doesn't love me. Well... I mean, he..." she trails off. "It's complicated. I like his eyes. And he's really nice, sometimes? And he protects me on occasion... but... I like your eyes too. You protected me. And you... I mean, I think you... you said you..."

"I love you, you mean?" He says it plainly, like a fact, more than an emotional statement. She looks down, and nods.

"At one point, you did. And you've been so good about everything lately, and... it was always just going to be a break, right?" She looks up at him with those wide blue eyes, that look so very different and yet, the same, surrounded by red.

"You're wrong. He loves you too."

This earns him a long stare. "Adrien, what."

"I did the same thing as you when we spilt, that's all. And enemy of mine who wasn't really an enemy. And I may have said your name when I marked her neck," he murmurs, tracing the mark on Marinette's. "She said mine back. But I thought she didn't know it until then..."

Her eyes widen slightly. "Do... you care about her?"

"I didn't know until recently... but I do. So... does this mean you'll take me back, Princess?"

She stares at him. "Pa-"

"Marinette," he cuts her off. "Will you take me back?"

"... Yes."

...

Chloé watches, hurt crashing into her. They broke up... it was supposed to be over...

Adrien and Marinette were NOT supposed to get BACK together! They just weren't! That wasn't how it went! Marinette broke up with Adrikins, because she didn't understand how he showed affection. Because she loved a pretty face, and couldn't handle the boy behind it. He was supposed to come around, and find someone new- Chloé!

She storms away, tears pricking her eyes, no matter how hard she tries to hold them back.

*Don't cry.*

*It will ruin my makeup.*

*They aren't worth it.*

*Dont let them see you cry, Chloé Bourgeois.*

"Oh, they can see."

She looks up, eyes wide, seeing violet. "Who's there?"

He steps forward... the most beautiful boy she's ever seen. Perfect golden curls framing a soft, pretty face. Huge eyes that glint like opals, violet and green. Soft violet wings, butterfly wings, and gold-and-violet clothing, the outfit of a prince, like silk, from the pattens on the sides of his pant legs, to the gentle refinery of the gloves. "Papillon, at your service, Miss Bourgeois."

"You... can't be Papillon... you're good, I know you are. I can see it in your eyes, you have to be a good person."

"I consider myself one," he laughs softly. "I help people achieve their goals. In return, I need the stones... to save my mother, you see. She's missing. I'm sure you understand, what they say about me is all wrong. Please, Chloé... help me?"

What can she do? Her heart is shattered. A beautiful boy is offering help. Maybe he really is a hero, just without the publicity...

"Yes, Papillon."

...

He isn't Papillon.

He can't be Papillon.

Sweet, deranged Adrien cannot be the dangerous, shockingly gentle boy she cheated on him with.

She hears a scream...

She closes her eyes, and dashes off. Sure, a few minutes after she and Adrien went separate directions, and akuma shows up. That happens all the time, it proves nothing.

Or does the fact that it happens all the time prove something?

It dawns on her that Mr. Noir isn't going to show up to bail her out of this one. He's gone off, looking for his wife, and selfishly, she wishes he were here. He'd know what to do about this.

She transforms, closing her eyes. She feels a sickness in her stomach, and a hurt in her chest. It's time to fight the akuma. She's fought them alone before. No big deal.

She opens her eyes, and smiles. Nobody would be able to tell if it were faux.


	34. Chapter 34

She races down the street, to where the akuma smiles demurely, pale silver sliding actoss her fingers, and tearstains trailing from her white lace mask.

"Why, hello, Ladybug. I am Reduviidae," the akuma gives a soft grin. "You know what that is?"

Marinette shakes her head, thankful that she's got a mask that can hide the fear at those wicked-looking blades the akuma holds, and the sharp spikes that line the sleek white costume. "Sorry, never heard of that."

The akuma is unpreturbed. "A Reduviidae is more commonly known as an assassin bug. And hunter. Know what it's one of the only known predators of?"

Marinette can guess.

Okay, yeah, there is absolutely no way he loves her, if he really is Papillon- which he isn't, but entertaing the idea, you don't kiss a girl, tell her you love her truely, and set an assassin designed to EAT LADYBUGS on her. You just don't.

She spins the yo-yo, and hopes against hope that Papillon still orders the akumas not to hurt her.

The akuma leaps down from her rooftop, landing in front of Marinette... and up close, she almost looks like...

Chloé.

He akumatized Chloé.

She groans softly, murmurs something that sounds like "Goddammit Papillon," and lets her yo-yo fly.

...

Gabriel sits in the airplane, eyes closed. Tibet. Plagg said the last place he sensed her was in Tibet. Why would she be in Tibet...?

It doesn't matter. She is, and he's going to save her. That's the important thing.

He swore to protect his Queen. He's been dreaming of her since he made the choice to go after her. In the dreams, Bridgette is chained in a cage, often covered in blood, but with unbroken eyes, full of fury and that cold, collected hate that always excited him to see. Her captors would flinch away when she snapped at their fingers.

"She's maimed three of our men," he heard once, and Bridgette gave the smirk of sheer petty satisfaction that she was so excellent at pulling off.

He isn't sure if the dreams are real or not. He hopes they are... it would mean she's still Bridgette, and still fighting. Still biting off fingers...

That would not be considered normal if it were anyone else, mind you, but for Bridgette, it was like seeing a mermaid swim... or more like seeing a lion kill a gazelle. Bridgette in her element. Beautiful. Hot. He looks out the plane window, and imagines his beautiful wife amd him, as teenagers, attacking a plain full of villains with fire and knives.

It's romantic.

He looks down at the two rings on his hand... the Chat Noir ring, that broght him to her, and the wedding ring that bonded them forever.

"I'm coming, my Queen."

...

"Crap crap crap crap crap!" Marinette dashes down the street, avoiding the knives that Reduviidae keeps flinging at her. "Godammit Adr- Papillon, this isn't how you show a girl you love her!"

Reduviidae's laughter echos off the walls. "Once I get the Miraculous, I'll be the one Adrien loves!"

"That makes no sense!" she calls over her shoulder.

Reduviidae doesn't seem to care, if the knives are any indication. If Adrien turns out to be Papillon, they are going to have a long talk about what acceptable boyfriend behavior is. Rule One: Don't fling knives at your girlfriend after you figure out it's her.

That won't be a problem though, she tells herself, because Adrien is NOT Papillon!

She turns around, spinning her yo-yo to make a sheild. "I could really use Mr. Noir right about now..."

"The little Lady can't do anything by herself? Ha! You're just a helpless kid, aren't you? Aren't you?"

But it's just her. And hell, she is not giving in that easy.

She slams the yo-yo up, knocks the knives out of Reduviidae's hands. "Okay. Now I'm mad."

...

Adrien has never facepalmed harder that he does when Chloé gets it in her head that taunting Pr- Ladybug is a good idea. "Damm akumas. Why do they constantly screw up like this? We were so close, too..."

Maybe it's for the best, a voice whispers. After all, you can't hurt her, if you're right. You would rather die.

"Shut up!"

Make me.

He flies down, detransforming just in time to see Chloé's earrings smashed, and he begings to applaud.

"Brava! Lovely dispatchment, Ladybug!"

She spins around. "Adrien?"

...

She breaths a sigh of relief. If Adrien's here, then he probably isn't Papillon, right?

Of course not. It was a fluke, earlier. He's still Adrien. Crazy, wonderful Adrien, who wouldn't intentionally hurt her. He wouldn't, right?

"Just part of the job. Noir's out of town, so I have to be... sharp-witted." She smiles and winks at him, before hurrying off to detransform in time to 'run into' him after the battle. It's getting late, after all.

...

She races into his arms, and he hugs her tightly. "Princess... you're unhurt?"

"Yeah, I always am," she murmurs to him, head buried in his chest.

"Let me take you somewhere. Somewhere it can be you and me."

She nods, kissing his cheek, and lets him take her to a hill, just outside the city. He's so sweet like this... so gentle with her... so kind...

She lies down on the hill, looking up at what would be stars if not for light pollution. "Adrien? Tell me a secret?"

He tenses, but lies down opposite her, so their heads are side-by-side, feet in opposite directions. "A secret?"

"Yeah."

He thinks about it, and decides. "I'm lying to you," he whispers in her ear. "I'm lying to you just as much as you're lying to me."

They lie in the dark, heartbeats in tandem. He hears her breath hitch, but doesn't truly feel as her body tenses. "Adrien..."

"So let's just go along with the lies," he continues. "Please. I don't want to... let's just keep up the pretense for a while longer, okay?"

It takes a minute for her to respond, but finally, she whispers back...

"Okay."


	35. Chapter 35

Adrien and Marinette sit side by side as André Bourgeois lectures the class on their assignment: being his staff for a day.

"Oh, joy," he murmurs to the dark-haired girl, who gives him a slight grin.

"Hey, can you maybe not get under the skin of whoever has trash duty?" she asked, looking up at him with big eyes. "I really don't want to have to clean up that mess."

He gives her a pointed look, crossing his arms. "If you'd just let me use them for like ten minutes-"

"No, Adrien."

"You're being unreasonable. C'mon, it's me-"

"And I love you, but you're really unstable and should probably not rule the wor-"

She's cut off by the Mayor clearing his throat in front of them. "Alright, if you two won't listen, then I suppose I'll just put you both on-"

The door slams open suddenly, and Adrien wonders if anyone is going to be able to finish a sentence today. Then he turns, and his jaw drops.

Jagged Stone, standing in all his rockstar glory, with his crocodile lounging behind him.

"What's up, Children of Bitches?" the man grins, flashing the rock sign.

"I'm going to use him," Adrien whispers.

"Oh my god, I am both for and against that both at once because I don't want you to but at the same time I have to see this."

"We'll take the luxury suite," the violet-haired woman behind him says calmly, not paying attention as the door opens, a guy with pink hair stepping in.

"Do all Americans have hair like that?" Marinette asks.

"Says the girl whose hair is blue in most lights."

"The boy whose eyes turn into mirror balls... wait. I just realized. I'm really mad at you."

"What? I thought we weren't going to talk about the fighting," he looks into her eyes. He was sure they'd settled on keeping the lives separate apart from a few quips...

"Not that," she waves him off.

"Then... what?"

"You got mad at me for 'cheating,' but it was with you!" she hisses, eyes flashing.

Oh. Right... "I... can explain?"

"Alright," André gives them each a severe look. "You two got lucky. We now severely lack gophers. That's you two."

"Um, about that..." Adrien fakes a cough. "Yeah, I'm way too sick to run all over the city like that, so..."

Marinette isn't sure what a gopher is, but clearly, it can't be good, so she follows his lead. "Um, yes, me too, really sick, yeah."

"Then I guess you two can sort trash..."

They glance at each other. "Gopher it is then!"

Something flashes. A camera, held by the man with the pink hair. "You!" Jagged Stone snaps, as the violet-haired woman pulls the camera away. "How many times do I have to tell you? No pictures!"

"C'mon man! I'm like, you're hugest fan in the history of ever!"

"No means no, stalker!" Jagged glares. "Security!"

"Oh, that reminds me of another reason I'm mad at you!" Marinette tells Adrien cheerfully... but Adrien is watching as tge stalker is hauled out of the building, grinning. "Oh. God, how did I mis that look? Are you actually going after that creepy guy?"

"I wouldn't have to if someone would just give me the earrings..."

"I am so not covering for you," she sighed. "And when Mr. Noir gets back, we're definitely going to stop you."

He gave her a long look. "You won't tell him who I am though. Right?"

"Not unless he respects our agreement."

"Then I would expect no less, my Lady."

...

Aforementioned Mr. Noir is checking into a motel in Tibet. He gives the woman across the counter a careful once-over. "A single room, please."

She stares at him. "You're Gabriel Agreste."

He pulles out a neat stack of RMB, sliding it across the counter. "For your discretion."

"No refunds," she tells him, carefully. "You do know the type this is?"

"Should I check in at the one two streets over?" he snaps. "I need a room for the night, I don't care where it is."

She passes him the keys without another word. "Room 46. Second floor."

He gives a smirk. "Thought so." He grabs his bags, bringing them up to the room. It's tiny. Cramped. Not the kind of place people would expect Gabriel Agreste to stay.

Purrfect.

He dumps his bags, pulling out his twin knives. "Pearl, Estella, I did miss you two."

"Right, those. Because a staff wasn't good enough for our Gabe, was it?" Plagg rolls his eyes.

"It's not about that. These just make better attacks," Gabriel sighs. They've been over this many times before.

He slides the knives ino his jacket, and heads out. "Is she close?" he asks Plagg.

The demon shrugs. "I can't tell. But I-" he cuts off, gasping suddenly. "Yes! Yes, she's hear, and she's screaming."

...

A gopher, as it turns out, is something very annoying to be.

Marinette thought she'd just be ticked that Adrien was making akumas at all, but at this point, she's more pissed that he left her alone on gopher duty. She's been looking for a pair of stupid glasses shaped like tge Eiffel Tower for hours now, and she's pretty sure that they don't actually exist.

And if she doesn't find some nonexistent glasses, she and Adrien will both fail the day, and it's worth a test grade!

And... there's Papillon, flying down behind her in the alley. "How's it going?"

"I can't believe you... is there an akuma running around right now?"

"Yup, Pixilator, he's sending people to an alternate dimension with a camera on his face!"

"Then control it!"

"Chill, he isn't lethal and you're invulnerable. I came to help with Gopher duty," he explains.

Marinette sighs, and presses a quick kiss to his lips. "Okay, well, I'm going to go fight your monster. If you can find a pair of glasses shaped like a red white and blue Eiffel Tower- glasses that do not actually exist- that would rock."

He tilts his head. "Well are you a designer or aren't you? Pull up a sketch, I'll have them made."

She blinks, and slowly smiles. "Right! Yeah! Thank you!" She beams, and grabs gus shoulders, kissing him long and hard, befire running off to transform and fight him.

She wonders when her life fell apart... oh, that's right. When she fell in love with Adrien Agreste.


	36. Chapter 36

Marinette runs, yo-yo raised, towards the fight. Apparently, the guy is as obsessed with Jagged as Adrien is with her. It makes her worry what might have happened if she really hadn't returned his feelings for her... It wouldn't have been pretty, would it? She shivers slightly. "Yeah, he's a little creepy."

"I am NOT!" Pixelator cries, marching toward her with wide arms. "I am a perfectly! Normal! Person!" Each of the last three words is punctuated with a blast from his face-camera... thing. Whatever it is.

"Yeah, perfectly normal people shoot lasers at teenage girls all the time. Totally," she calls, sarcasm dripping from each syllable, dodging the photographs. "But I wasn't talking about you, I was talking about my psycho boyfriend!"

She could swear she hears him laughing... and then she sees it. Glaringly obvious. That asshole... he made it easy? Did he actually make it easy?! How dare he?!

"Don't you laugh, I am so not going to kiss you tonight!"

Pixelator blinks. "Um... yeah, nobody told me Ladybug was crazy..."

"Well she is!" she stomps forward, spinning her yo-yo, eyes wide and smile wider. "And she is SICK of looking all over the CITY, ALONE for some stupid SUNGLASSES while her stupid BOYFRIEND makes a totally weak, POINTLESS akuma!" she slams the yo-yo into his glasses.

Adrien flies down, eyes wide and slightly horrified. "You... you just..."

"That was too easy, Adrien. If you want to be god, at least challenge me. Don't go easy on me because you're in love with me. Okay?" she offers a slight smile. "It's really, really annoying."

He stares blankly. "So you... want hard ones?"

"If you're terrorizing Paris because of what you believe, I can accept that, sort of. If you're trying. If it's for fun, then I'm going to get mad. You were not trying to win with that one," she purifies the akuma, releasing the pictures, and crosses her arms, glaring.

He tenses, and rubs the back of his neck. "But, Marinette..."

"Here's how it is: either Papillon and Ladybug are enemies or they aren't. We can be enemies who make out sometimes, and that doesn't have to affect Adrien and Marinette at all, but if you're going to throw a battle, then don't have the battle in the first place. I won't stand for you hurting innocent people for the sake of a fight you don't want to win."

He blinks, and suddenly hugs her, seeming to crumple. "I'm sorry, I didn't think... I haven't thought about casualties in ages, I... I should have, I keep forgetting that it hurts people..."

"I know that you're heart's good, Adrien. I know that you are a good person. I can deal with these fights if it's for a reason," she whispers to him. "But don't throw the fight ever again."

He sighs. "Okay. I promise I won't."

...

Gabriel transforms, and waits. They came for her. They'll be coming for him soon enough as well then, won't they? Why wouldn't they? He stands at the top of the building, knives at the ready, and waits.

The man thinks he's sneaking. He thinks he's highly trained, and being incredibly quiet. The man is correct, no ordinary human, even a tense one, waiting for an attack, wouldn't have heard or felt him. But a cat does.

Mr. Noir spins quickly, and crosses his blades, each one pressing into a side of the man's neck. "Hello, sir. I believe you're aware of who I am, and what I've come for."

"T-the Demoness..." the man stammers out, and Gabriel twists his wrists, drawing two rows of blood droplets from the man's neck.

"Don't talk about my wife that way." The man gasps in pain, eyes widening. "The blades, as I'm sure you've realized, are poisoned. You will take me to Bridgette, or die a very slow, painful death. Do we understand each other, sir?"

The man pales, and parts his lips slightly. "Antidote if I take you?"

"Antidote if you take me."

"We understand each other."

Gabriel lowers the knives, smiling, and sheathes them. "My reflexes are faster than yours. Don't try anything."

The man nods, and begins leading Gabriel down from the roof, and through an alley. "There are guards. I will not get you past them."

"You won't be asked to."

The man nods, and takes a turn. After about ten minutes of walking, he stops at the door of a "Gentleman's Club," the type no actual gentleman would deign to visit. "This is the entrance."

Gabriel turns to him, eyes ice. "She better not be on the stage."

"Under the ground. She will not comply not matter what we attempt. To dangerous to be let out."

Gabriel smiles slightly. "That's Bridgette. You get the antidote once she and I are out."

The man nods. Gabriel crosses the threshold, and readies himself for battle.

...

Adrien passes Marinette the package. "Your sketch was amazing. They came out nicely, I think..."

"Shall we bring them to Jagged together?" she grins up at him, and his eyes light up. "C'mon, Butterfly Boy."

"Shh!" he presses a finger to his lips, panic flickering through his eyes. "We're seriously lucky nobody heard you call me 'Adrien' after the fight, do you want me to go to jail?"

"Hmm... nah, then I couldn't do this!" she presses her lips to his quickly, before grabbing his hand and pulling him up the stairs, eyes glowing with excitement.

The rockstar loves the glasses, of course, and by the time the hero and villain are finished with their delivery, they have a new date lined up... a date to a rock concert that weekend.


	37. Chapter 37

"So," Gabriel smiles, walking down the stairs towards the room of men who want to kill him. "I hear you fine gentlemen have somebody who I care vastly for with you. Is that so?" He twirls the blades, and tilts his head. He perfected the unnerving politeness as a teenager, and is glad to see that it hasn't failed him with age. The men glance at each other, and one draws a gun.

"Come with us, Mr. Noir. Or I'll kill you where you stand."

Gabriel has to admit, the gun is still a little... alarming, but after all these years, he was more than expecting it. Still, he cannot afford to play games once a gun enters the situation. "I do wish people like you had better manners," he sighs. "Say please, first of all." Then again, a few games couldn't hurt... but if Bridgette were here, she'd be glaring at him, and telling him to stop being dramatic and get on with it. "Yes, my Queen," he murmurs to the imagined Bridgette.

His knives are very quick, and the man fires, hitting only about two feet to the right of Gabriel's arm, a shot that could, despite what movies like to pretend, have killed him from the blood loss. In retaliation, Gabriel leaps down the rest of the stairs, and in an instant, the man's hand is on the floor, and blood spills from the wrist.

"I suggest you get that stopped unless you want to continue to push life out your arteries," he grins, before turning on the other four. "Who else wants to play with the black cat?"

The men ready their weapons, and Gabriel nearly purrs in anticipation. God, he missed this kind of carnage.

...

Meanwhile, Adrien is brainstorming ways to akumatize a rock star.

"Don't, Adrien."

He looks up at Nuru. "You're talking to me again?"

"Look," Nuru sighs. "If you akumatize your heroes, then how the hell are you going to keep this already-insane god complex of yours even a little bit under control?"

Adrien leans back in his chair. "Marinette doesn't mind, I don't see why you should."

"Because Marinette," the kwami tells him, "is in love with you in such a terrifying way that she might end up selling her soul for you if you let her."

"She's not gonna sell her soul, and I haven't sold mine either."

"Keep telling yourself that."

"I will!"

Adrien flips on the tv... to an interview.

With XY.

Who is trashing the very man who Adrien wants to akumatize.

"If I wasn't meant to akumatize Jagged Stone, then the opportunity to do so wouldn't fall right into my lap. I'm destined to be greater, Nuru. I'm going to use a rock star to save the world, and make it a place for Marinette and I to rule as Prince and Princess!" he laughs, excited.

"You're way too old to want to be a prince, Adrien."

Adrien smiles, and twists his pin. "Nuru. Transform me."

The power washes over him, and he turns to the mirror. "She's mine. And mine alone. Soon the world will follow!" He knows he's being dramatic, but he can't help it... he has to. He has to laugh, that evil laugh that he practiced for hours as a kid. It echoes through the empty house... the house of the dead mother, and the father who just went away without a word...

He takes off from the windowsill, wings snapping open.

...

Marinette hears a crash on her balcony, and comes up to see Papillon... Adrien, giving her a huge, empty smile. "Well, that's a look. Should I be alarmed?"

His smile fades, and his wings collapse down his back. "I just akumatized Jagged Stone and I'm feeling really tense because I actually respect the man a lot, and now I can control him-"

"Which you should be doing right now!" she grabs his shoulders, turning him around. "You know you lose control all the time, and I'm assuming you made this one at least somewhat threatening or I'm going to be very angry!"

"Princess, I'm having a crisis of conscience here!"

She gives him a long look. "Then deakumatize him. I'd love to have a few days off."

"But..."

"Adrien, it's simple," she sighs, rubbing her temple. "If you don't want to be a supervillain, then just don't be. I'd love to b working with you instead of against you, and if Mr. Noir came back to a heroic Papillon, he'd definitely be fine with it after a little bit of convincing."

He sighs, hugging her. "That's sweet, but I... I can't."

"Then go control your monster before someone dies again," she rolls her eyes, but hugs him back. "We'll talk about this, at some point, but this is the wrong time."

"I... you're absolutely right," he kisses her cheek. "I... I'll get right on that. You still love me, right?"

"Of course I do," she promises, kissing his lips quickly. "All of you, always."

He closes his eyes, and smiles. "Jagged Stone is making everyone headbang. It's awesome."

She has to laugh. "I knew I had to see this... And I better, before the headbangers burn down the city."

She steps away. "Tikki!"

Tikki in question comes out slowly, looking very tense. "I do not approve of this, Marinette."

"Transform me!"

She feels excitement racing through her as Adrien watches her transform. He watches, in awe.

"You are so beautiful," he murmurs, coming up to her, tracing her mask with his silk-gloved fingertips. "That costume is damn hot."

She wraps her arms around his neck, and presses herself against him, before licking his lips lightly, teasingly. "I know. You couldn't get enough of it that night on the roof."

He hums appreciatively, tracing his hands down her sides...

"Later," she tells him, pulling away. "I have to go fight a rock star."

He gives her a deadpan look, and rolls his eyes. "Okay, okay, I'll control him. But later..."

"Later."


	38. Chapter 38

Gabriel walks through the body parts, and calls out. "Bridgette! Baby! The mice might've had fun while the cat was gone, but I'm back and ready to rip them to shreds for keeping you from me!"

He slams the door open, to a dark room, with a bare cage in the back. "Who do you think you are?" growls the woman inside. "I'll rip your hands off if you come any closer."

He drops the transformation, and runs to her, cutting the lock on the cage in half and swinging the door open. "Bridgette..." he wraps his arms around her closing his eyes for a moment. "It's Gabriel. It's me. I came for you. We're going home now, okay? I killed everyone in the way."

Her breath catches, and her arms reach around him, tightly. "Gabriel..."

"How badly are you hurt?"

"I... I'm starving and filthy. They did what they could from a distance, without killing me," she shivers. "I didn't let them get close enough. Gabriel, why did it take so long?"

"I... I thought you were dead. When the earrings turned up, I gave up the ring. It was stupid, I know, but I thought... I'm so sorry..."

She turns, kissing his cheek. "I understand. You're here now, that's what matters."

"I'll always come for you, my Queen," he pulls away, stroking the hair back from her face. "It's been hard to raise a kid without you... I think I'm screwing up, help please."

She laughs. "If you turned our Adrien into a future supervillain while I was gone, you are in so much trouble."

"Nothing like that at all! Don't worry, he's turning into a fine, upstanding young man."

...

"AND LET'S MAKE THE CROCODILE A DRAGON! WHOO-HOO!" the fine, upstanding young man yells excitedly, as he surveys the wreckage of Paris, full of headbangers and flashing lights. His girlfriend, on the other hand, is hiding the interviewee, XY, as fast as she can...

He isn't cooperating.

"Look, little bug girl, I do not care if an old man thinks I'm a bad bad boy," the pop star sneers. "I'm XY, it would not be the first time."

"Yeah, we get it, but this 'old man,' as you call him, has a dragon."

"Yeah, and his songs tend to drag on, too."

Marinette groans. "Look, if you don't come with me, the headbangers will take you."

"Let those old fogies try!" he smirks, stepping onto the balcony. "Hey! Come and get me!"

The dragon swoops down, and gets him.

"Honestly, I can see the appeal of barbecuing that guy," she comments to Nadja Chamack, who nods with vigor. "Well, time to go fight the literal coolest akuma ever!"

...

With hair spray.

What the hell, Tikki?

Papillon lands behind her, snickering. "Hair spray? That's your superpower?"

"Butterflies? That's your superpower?"

"Hell yeah, butterflies rock!"

"Dork," she taps his nose, before jumping off the Eiffel, a plan in mind, and landing on the dragon. It takes a moment to balance herself, and to control him, but she manages, much to Adrien's amazement, as he flies alongside her.

"You're amazing."

"In more than just this," she winks, aiming the hairspray as Jagged Stone's head swings up and down and... Now!

His hair, mid-flip, is sprayed right over his eyes, blinding the man and keeping him from being able to play. As Marinette lands, it's quite easy to take and smash the guitar. "Rock on!" Throwing the hairspray up, the city is cleansed once again, and she and Adrien head to detransform.

Almost as soon as they do, however, Adrien gets a text...

"It's from my father...?" he looks confused. "He says the business trip ended early, and he has a surprise for me. That's... not like him."

Marinette smiles, kissing him softly. "Go. I have to go talk to Jagged Stone anyway, you know that he wants me to design his album cover now?"

"Marinette-you?"

"Marinette-me," she grins.

He hugs her, twirling her around. "You're the coolest girl in Paris!"

"Don't forget it!" Marinette giggles as he sets her down. "Now go!"

Adrien heads off, unaware what's waiting for him at home. A choice...

...

He walks in the door. "Hey, Father, I was just out with Marinette..." he trails off, eyes widening at the sight of the tired, nearly skeletal, but clean and alive woman at the top of the stairs. "... Mom?"

"Adrien," she smiles brightly, walking down the stairs and wrapping her son in a hug. "Oh, I did miss you..."

"Mom, you're alive?"

She nods. "Mm-hmm. C'mon, you didn't think a little explosion could take me out, did you? Honestly Adrien, you and your father both write me off way too fast!"

The pin at Adrien's throat seems to burn. The pin he twisted into an object of evil... for no reason? Because his mom managed to come back anyway, without divine intervention?

Still... she's back... she's really back! They're going to be a family again! He throws his arms around her, tighter than ever before, and buries his face in her shoulder, letting the relieved, overjoyed tears flow. "Mom..."

"I'm here, sweetheart. I'm right here. I'm sorry I let them take me, I never meant to leave you, and I'll be here for you for a long time now, okay? At least until you've got kids of your own to take care of. That's a promise!" she laughs slightly, stroking his hair. "Hey, it's okay, I'm here. I'm here."

Adrien looks up at her, with wide eyes. "Mom, I have so much to tell you! I started school at Francois duPoint, and I have friends! And a girlfriend, too, Marinette, who I'm planning to marry as soon as we're old enough. You'll love her!"

"Why don't you invite her over for dinner?" Bridgette smiles. "I'd love to meet her!"

Adrien pulls out his phone instantly. "Of course Mom, thank you!" Before making the call though, he hugs her again. "I just... I can't believe you came back..."

A voice at the back of his head whispers, "It's over. You have no reason to continue. Just give up, or even become a superhero! Wouldn't that be wonderful, to be a hero like that? You have no reason to continue this. Just give up."

No, he thinks. No, it's not just about Mom anymore. It's about the world. It's about changing the world.

Papillon isn't over just yet.


	39. Chapter 39

Marinette picks up the phone call as she walks out of the meeting with Jagged, excited. "Adrien! Adrien! He gave me total freedom to do whatever I want with the cover, and he's going to pay me! Like, actual money!"

"I… I have some good news too," his voice shakes slightly. "First off, you're invited over for dinner."

"Sounds great," she laughs, walking down the street. "I'll text my parents."

"Speaking of parents…" she hears him take a breath, and his voice breaks. "My mom came home. Alive."

She stops dead in her tracks. "She's alive?"

"Apparently. And sitting in the living room. I… I'm…"

"I'll be right over," she tells him, changing her route to go directly to his house. "Do you want me to stay on the phone with you, Adrien?"

"I… I think so. Please."

"Okay. Adrien, I'm so happy for you, this is amazing," she rounds the corner. "I can't wait to meet her… do you think she'll like me?"

"I'm sure she'll love you, Marinette, who wouldn't?" his voice is light, but laced with deeper emotion. "I'm meant to be your enemy after all, and I love you more than the stars."

"That's over, though, isn't it?" she stops in her tracks, warming up with pure joy. "You have her back, now you're free to be a hero!"

The silence on the other end of the line stretches on.

"Adrien?"

"I can see you from the window, I'm coming down to let you in."

She looks up to see his face in the window, and waves. He smiles, waving back, before disappearing and reappearing at the door, opening it for her. Hanging up the call, she swings her arms around him tightly. "It is over, isn't it?" she asks quietly.

"Can we talk after dinner?" he asks quietly, voice full of emotion threatening to overflow. Those five words erase the warmth inside her. She buries her face in his shoulder, and slowly nods.

"We will talk though."

"I know."

She takes a deep breath, and separates from him, taking his hand. "Are you going to introduce me?"

"Yeah, definitely," he grins, pulling her into the dining room, where a striking woman with messy blond curls and sharp hazel eyes sits at the head of the table.

"You must be Marinette," she smiles, standing up and extending a hand. "The girl who captured my son's heart?"

"That's me!" Marinette laughs, shaking the woman's hand. "Are you Mrs. Agreste?"

"Bridgette. My name's Bridgette," the woman corrects gently. Suddenly, the eyes flick to her ears, and widen. "Oh! You're…"

Marinette tilts her head, slightly confused. "Yes?"

Bridgette raises an eyebrow. "You're a very lucky young girl, aren't you? And might I say those are some truly lovely earrings, I used to have a pair just like them."

A moment of clarity passes between the two women, both slowly smiling. "I'm sure they looked better on you," Marinette laughed slightly.

"You seem to wear them very well. I'm glad that they're being worn by a girl wonderful enough for my son to love," Bridgette sits back down, giving Gabriel a look. Gabriel, on the other hand, looks entirely stricken, staring at her in shock.

Marinette goes back to sit by Adrien's side, and he puts his arms around her, kissing her cheek. "Mom, Dad, this is the girl I fully intend to marry someday. Do you approve?"

Gabriel pins her with a look. "Well, I think I'm going to need to have a real conversation with her about her habits with my son, and the other boys. But once that's straightened out, you two have my full approval."

"Don't worry about that, Dad," Adrien grins. "We already figured that out, it was just a few misunderstandings."

"All the same, she and I will be having a conversation."

"Well, I approve," Bridgette cuts in. "C'mon, darling dearest, we had our complications too. Remember that time you tried to file a restraining order against me?"

"That is not the same thing."

"I'm just saying, mon ange, you shouldn't be so overprotective," she traces her hand through his hair, meeting his eyes with her own wide ones. "I can handle all of that, I promise."

He shivers slightly, leaning in and kissing her suddenly. Marinette's face goes scarlet, while Adrien doesn't seem to see anything unusual.

…

The rest of the dinner goes smoothly. Marinette and Bridgette get along easily, gushing about how incredible Adrien is, along with talk about fashion that Gabriel is happy to join in on, and Bridgette shares tips on how to drug your boyfriend when he does something you don't approve of. Marinette turns to Adrien, grinning, while Gabriel rests his face in his hands on the table.

At the end of the dinner though, Adrien starts walking Marinette home, and it's time for them to talk.

"Is it over or not, Adrien? Why would you continue this after you got her back?" Marinette asks quietly.

"Princess, it's not that simple," he takes a deep breath. "It's not just about her anymore, it's about fixing the whole world."

"Then join the Peace Corps or something!" she throws her arms in the air. "God, Adrien-"

"Exactly."

She blinks. "What?"

"I'm going to be a god. You're going to be my goddess. We're going to rule the world, eliminate pain, make the good lead good lives and punish the evil. We are the gods, Marinette!"

He isn't prepared for the slap. "I don't believe in that shit, and I can't believe you do. You can't become a god, Adrien, you're just a teenage guy!"

"Princess-"

"Adrien."

"It would be so much better if we were in charge. Don't you think we could remake the world the way we wanted it? Change the parts we don't like, and replace them with things we do? We could help realize the dreams of the people we love…"

"What you're talking about is called a dictatorship, Adrien. A worldwide one. Those never end well."

He stares at her, and shakes his head. "Okay. Well, I mean, I knew you didn't like it, but I guess things can just stay the way they are then-"

"No." She steps back, tears pricking her eyes. "No, I can put up with a lot, if it's about saving your mother I can handle that, even if you have a little world domination added to that. But if all you want is to take over the world, then it's that, or me. Choose now."

His hand goes to the pin, eyes wide with panic. "Don't leave me again!"

"Then end this now. That's my ultimatum. You should have known it would come sooner or later," she meets his eyes, her own full of unshed tears. "Choose, Adrien."

"I… I…" he stammers out. He wants to hold her, tell her, 'You, of course it's you, it's always been you.' But something holds him back. He doesn't quite know what it is, but it's there. He can't just throw everything away, even if he already got that which he started everything for. He needs proof, something real, to show that the end justifies the means.

Why can't she understand that?

She's staring up at him, eyes growing more and more horrified and heartbroken the longer he goes without answering her. Tears break, rolling down her face as she steps back. "You're choosing that? Over me?" she stares up at him, shattered. "Well then… then it's over. We're done. Don't forget that you chose this." She turns, and leaves him standing in the sunlight, as his heart turns to ice, and the last thread holding his mind together snaps.


	40. Chapter 40

She can't stop crying. Her pillow is soaked with saltwater, and her eyes are bright red and puffy. She locked the window as soon as she got home, shut off her phone, and blasted music, blocking out any way for him to get her attention. That goddamn psychopath! How could he? Adrien Agreste promised he loved her. Papillon always protected her and put her first. But when it came down to it…

She hugs her pillow tighter as a new wave of tears hits her. "S-stupid butterfly… Doesn't he know how much he's hurt me?" she whispers through it.

"Adrien started on the path to this point before you ever met him," Tikki tells her, stroking her hair gently. "The boy who found the pin could have gone either way, hero or villain. Maybe if we'd gotten to him in time things would be different, but by the time you and he met in the rain, he was already broken. You couldn't have fixed him."

"Stop talking!" Marinette snaps, glaring at the kwami. "He loved me, I know it. He might… might not, anymore, but there was a time when he did. That was real."

"I know, Marinette… I know…"

"He's not a bad person!"

Tikki frowns at that, and shakes her head. "I cannot agree with you there."

Marinette gets off the bed, going to her vanity, and stares intently at her reflection. Her thoughts this time last year would have been different from her thoughts now, now that she's sure of herself, and knows for a fact that her beauty nearly- _almost-_ made a villain into a hero. She sees the redness in her eyes, but also the determination and anger. She sees the muscle, not built for aesthetic but out of necessity, not fully toned, but powerful. She sees the messy black hair, and the tears streaking her face.

She's not delicate. She's no pretty flower. But she's strong, a warrior. Maybe she's not a Disney princess, but definitely the kind of princess who leads an army. Her Prince of the Butterflies won't stand a chance.

Taking a shaky breath, she closes her eyes and remembers the first time he kissed her, holding her gently as he faded into nothing, giving his all to protect her. Then her eyes open, and she's done crying.

…

Adrien sends another text, but it won't reach her. She shut off her phone. He paces back and forth on her balcony, desperate to be let in. He slams his fist against the door, knocking too loud, but her music is blasting already.

"Princess!" he shouts. "Let me in! You can't keep away from me forever! Don't make me break this door down, Princess!" he laughs, slamming the door again. "I'll kill someone if you don't let me in! I'll make an akuma and kill everyone! I don't care, I can bring them back once I win, or make people better than they were! Marinette, let me in!"

She either can't hear him, or she isn't taking his threats seriously. He never thought he'd be forced to threaten his Princess, but what other choice does he have? He can't lose her. He can't lose her. He can't lose her. He can't lose her.

So how to get her attention?

Well, he needs to make a new akuma. A dangerous one this time. She'll still be protected of course, he loves her, she won't be the one getting hurt, because he would never, never, never hurt her, and she'll be his goddess anyway, right? If she keeps refusing him, then at least once he has the miraculous, both of them, he can go into her mind and just change that one little thing. Just one. She'll still be her, he'll just make her forget that she didn't agree with his ideas, or maybe she disagreed originally but came over to his way of thinking after a bit…

What the FUCK?!

His hand hits the side of his face, slapping himself back to his senses for a moment. What the fuck what he just thinking? Go into Marinette's head and brainwash her? That's horrible, sick, wrong! He shivers, horrified with himself. How could he think of doing something like that to his Princess? She would never be happy with him pulling the strings- she's strong, independent, and never gives up. That's why he loves her. She's not someone he'll destroy like that.

But he does need to get her back, and to do that he's going to need her attention. Maybe… maybe he'll make his father the target for real this time. He meant to do that once he realized his dad was aware of the Miraculous, but then he went on that business trip… now he's back. And if the akuma is targeting Gabriel Agreste, then Ladybug won't have a choice but to deal with the son, Adrien. Okay, so the akuma will target his father. This should be easy, his dad ticks off enough people, just... not always that Adrien knows about.

But if he can manufacture a setup for his father to upset someone, then he can make an akuma.

He heads home to plan, and before long, he has an email sent to The Challenge, a reality game show, offering Gabriel Agreste's presence for the next program the one tomorrow. He slips into Nathalie's room, and, forging his father's handwriting, adds an interview to the schedule. Some poor contestant is going to deal with a very surprised, very disgusted Gabriel, and be disqualified.

Perfect for the most dangerous akuma he's made so far. The first one he's serious about, and likely not the last.

…

Gabriel kisses Bridgette's forehead the next morning, marveling at how beautiful she is, the new scars only adding to her almost feral appeal. Her eyes flutter open. "Gabriel?"

"Hey," he smiles. "Last night was wonderful."

"The best," she reaches up to stroke his hair. "I missed that…"

He purrs at the 'petting,' and flushes. Goddamn cat tendencies… luckily, they don't usually come out for anyone but her, or he'd be screwed. "I have to go. Someone scheduled an interview," he wrinkles his nose. "I'll be right back, I just need to get it over with as quickly as possible."

"Paw-ssible, you mean?" she asks through a yawn. He rolls his eyes, but laugh a bit. "Just come back to me as soon as you can, okay?"

He kisses her, ignoring the general grossness of kissing someone who just woke up and hasn't brushed their teeth yet, and nods. "I promise, my Queen."

He straightens his tie, and heads out, but not before taking one more glance behind him to make sure she's still there. When he walks out and sits in front of the screen, he expects an interviewer, not…

Whatever this is?

Everyone is horribly dressed and shouting about hypnotizing him?

He left the bed for this?

"I was told this was an interview," he frowns, crossing his arms, and decides that he knows exactly what he's going to put up with today: Not This. "I never agreed to be part of this. Hypnosis is a crack job without some actual magic, and you people are all complete idiots. If you'll excuse me, I'm going back to my lovely wife who just came home after nearly a year away. Goodbye." He shuts the screen off, heading to the bedroom. "Nathalie, next time, please check to make sure prospective interviewers are reputable."

"Yes sir," she nods as Gabriel enters the room, to see Bridgette calmly getting dressed.

"You are so hot when you're calling innocent people idiots," she tells him, grinning.

"Oh, am I?" he arches an eyebrow. "Does that turn you on, my Queen?"

"Oh, definitely," she slinks over to him, in her slip of a dress and heels. "I'm incredibly into it. But I'd be more into having you curse me out while I tie you up."

He laughs, and raises an eyebrow. "Careful, darling, you never know who could be listening."

That's all he can get out before she grabs his hands and kisses him.

…

Jacques Grimault steps off the stage, in mild shock. He wasn't expecting to be listened to, not after being told who he was supposed to 'control' (do these people even know how hypnosis works?) but he wasn't expecting such a furious reaction.

Gabriel Agreste. He had to get Gabriel Agreste. Of all people!

"I know what it's like."

Jacques turns to see a boy with gold hair and lifeless green eyes gazing at him. "Who are you?"

"My name's Adrien," he says. "But these days, I usually go by Papillon."

Jacques steps back, shaking his head. "No. No, I refuse the deal!"

The boy steps forward, butterflies surrounding him. "Ha. Ha, ha. Ha."

"What's so funny?!"

The mask flashes into place, and Papillon gives a horrific, broken smile. "You think you have a choice."

The butterflies swarm, and the last thing Jacques thinks before he blacks out, is that the creature in front of him is no longer a human.


	41. Chapter 41

It's definitely something to see the difference between a willing and unwilling akuma. The willing ones are, at the core, themselves. Twisted and distorted, but… he wonders how long it's been since he last thought of the akumas as people? Didn't that use to be an important distinction for him? To remember that they're people?

Well, either way, if the akumas are normally people, then this one isn't. He's blank, with eyes… eyes that aren't eyes. Just a pair of violet flowers where eyes should be, something that doesn't fully fit the magician motif. It'd be unnerving, except… except it just isn't. He isn't unnerved, it looks normal to him. He knows it shouldn't, but it does.

"Jacques a dit," he murmurs softly, recalling the children's game. "Jackady. You do as I say. They all do as you say," he gestures to the cards. "You hypnotize people with your cards. You hate Gabriel Agreste, and you want to get the Miraculous for me. You cannot hurt his wife, Bridgette, or a girl called Marinette Dupain-Cheng, otherwise known as Ladybug. But other than those two, you are to cause as much death and destruction as you can."

Jackady bows. "Yes, Papillon."

Adrien watches the akuma walk off. He doesn't need to bother controlling this one. He already extinguished any will to fight back. So he flies home, and waits.

…

Marinette is walking to school when she sees it. It's seven feet tall, with long, spindly limbs, and wherever it goes, people lose their minds and begin attacking each other… in a fest of sickening carnage.

She watches in horror as he holds a woman up by the neck. "P-please, no," she gasps, tears streaming down her face.

"Jacques a dit… vous êtes un cannibale," it says softly, placing the card on the woman's forehead, where it's absorbed. When she lands on the ground, her pupils are dilated, and she grabs a man, and-

Marinette can't even scream. It's too horrible.

What did Adrien do?

She runs away, shaking, holding back tears as she hides behind a dumpster. "Tikki, I…"

"I told you. He isn't a good person, and it looks like you were the only thing keeping him from being a monster," the kwami gives her a pointed look. Marinette closes her eyes, before opening them quickly. The images of what she just saw are all that fill her mind when her eyes close.

"Tikki. Transform me," Marinette says, calmly. She will not break. She has to stop the carnage before anyone else dies. And Adrien has to be ended.

…

Gabriel is interrupted in the middle of something by the intercom buzzing. "Can it wait?!" he asks, near fury dripping from his voice. "I'm very, very busy!"

"There's an akuma after you. This isn't like the other akumas, Mr. Agreste. It's already killed seventeen people," Nathalie's voice shakes. "It's turning people into mass murderers, or butchers who see people as meat, or just cannibals. It's the hypnotist you upset earlier."

Gabriel freezes, abruptly not interested in anything else. That doesn't sound like any other akuma has been… "Get Bridgette and Adrien to the panic room. I'll deal with this."

"Yes sir." The intercom disconnects, leaving Bridgette staring up at him in horror.

"What the hell has been happening in Paris?" she demands, standing up.

"Keep Adrien safe. I have to go," he kisses her quickly. "I love you."

"Love you too," she sighs. "I feel useless…"

"Protect our son," he tells her, before transforming. "I'll be back alive, I purr-omise." He winks, leaping out the window.

The little Lady is standing over the carnage, and when she sees him, she runs to him, hugging his tightly, and shaking. "It's Adrien Agreste."

He frowns. Why is she talking about Adrien? "You mean that's who you're dating. Yes, I know, that's not the main problem at the moment-"

"Adrien Agreste is Papillon. I found out while you were gone. I thought I loved him, and I thought he loved me, but he can't get away with this. I can't let him…" she begins crying, hugging him tighter.

Gabriel can't think. He can't understand what she's saying. His son is not a villain. Not a murderer. "I… I'm sure it's not that. Maybe he lost control again."

"Last night I broke up with him, and he threatened to do this, after I wouldn't let him into my room. I didn't think he really would. He said he was going to 'make an akuma and kill everyone,'" she looks up at him. "Can the cure bring those people back?"

Gabriel takes a slow breath. So it's real. His son is deranged. His son got rejected and decided the appropriate reaction was trying to force his way into the girl's bedroom, and then killing over twenty people by now.

At the moment though, his 'daughter' is shaking, clinging to him, clearly terrified, trying so hard to be brave. He hugs her tightly, and slowly shakes his head. "It can heal those at the point of mortal injury, but not bring back the dead. We're going to talk about what to do with Adrien later, right now, we need to take care of this akuma."

A quiet sob rips from her throat, but she nods. "Okay, Mr. Noir… the akuma is in the deck of cards. Those are what it uses to control people. Also, Adrien set it on his family, so I'd be forced to talk to him… he knows who I am. He won't hurt me!" she puts a hand up. "He thinks I'm his. Or that he loves me. I don't know which."

Adrien sent an akuma to him- a killer akuma- to force a girl to talk to him. Adrien is in so much trouble… "Little Lady, I'm going to have to ask one thing… don't tell anyone else." She stares up at him in shock, and Gabriel puts a hand up. "Please. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, we had you for dinner last night. You got on very well with my wife…"

"Mr. Agreste?" her eyes widen. He nods. "I won't tell anyone else. I… I really do love him, through all of this…"

"I'm going to destroy the cards. Capture the akuma. You and Adrien aren't talking. He won't get what he wants through murder."

She nods, and Gabriel focuses in on his betrayal, his disappointment, and his hurt. The fury of a father who's son has become a monster.

The hit lands on the cards, and as the akuma flies away, the man falls to ash… the akuma that was once a man.

Adrien destroyed the man already. The first direct kill.

As the ladybugs sweep over the city, nineteen- he was wrong, not quite twenty, but still horrible- perfectly reconstructed bodies litter the streets, as horrified people watch blood be wiped from their hands and lips.

Adrien did this.

…

She drops into the alleyway, and has to fight back a scream. He stands in front of her, not transformed, but surrounded by butterflies. "My Lady."

"I am not yours, you murderer," she chokes out, and he cringes back.

"I'll bring them back once I'm god," he murmurs, looking down. "I was mad. That's all."

"Adrien," she sighs, detransforming. "I can't allow you to kill. I told Mr. Noir who you are. We aren't going to the police because… because you are very lucky that we're two people that love you."

"So you do love me."

"Yes. But I can't be with you. I can't forgive you," her voice is low, shaking slightly. "I can't forgive this, Adrien."

His smile is soft. A light appears in his eyes- love. He still loves her. "You will. Someday, you'll forgive all of this. I'll show you a world that shines in the light. I'm doing this for you, after all…" The butterflies swarm around him, and when they clear, he's gone.


	42. Chapter 42

Marinette shivers as she walks to school the next day, pulling her jacket tighter around her and looking over her shoulder. Will he be at school? Will Mr. Noir- Mr. Agreste- be able to stop him, or...?

She hurries into the classroom, taking her seat, and sighing with relief. The whole class is shaken from the most recent attack- all of Paris is. She sees the seat in front of her empty, and tenses. She doesn't want to see him, of course not, but if he isn't here, then something's wrong, and either he's going to be hurt, or hurt someone else. She closes her eyes, holding back the tears.

He's terrifying.

He killed nineteen people in a day. One day. He destroyed a person's soul, with his own power, his own lifeblood, something that she knows can't be done without knowing exactly what's happening. He's not good. He's not... He loves her. He won't hurt her. These are facts, things as obvious to her as that the sky is blue and she needs air to breathe. She isn't scared for herself, but she's terrified for the world. He could win. if he won, that'd be it. She'd be his goddess or his doll, but he'd have the power. The murderer would rule the world, and he wouldn't rule it kindly.

The door opens as the bell rings, and the monster slides into his seat, running a hand through his hair, and looks up at her. "Forgive me yet, Princess? What do I need to do to get your attention, if yesterday's display wasn't enough?"

She hugs herself tighter, the screams echoing in her mind. "Don't. Please stop..."

"Princess..."

"Adrien, I'm begging you," she murmurs, leaning closer to him so he can hear. "Stop this. Please. People died, do you realize that? Died!"

He reaches up, caressing her cheek gently, and she jerks back at the touch. "I know you love me. Don't force yourself to stay away."

"You're the one making me stay away-"

"We get it. You're all over each other, and don't care about yesterday's attack," Ms. Bustier snaps at them. "Keep the PDA down in my classroom."

She bites her lip, pulling back. Suddenly, Rose gets up, her chair crashing to the ground, and begins running out of the classroom. "I can't, I can't, I can't!" she screams out, tears pouring from her eyes.

"Rose!" Juleka calls, running after her girlfriend in a hurry. She turns to the teacher. "She saw the attacks, I'm going after her, please excuse us..." She leaves, running to calm Rose down.

Adrien turns to Marinette, with a sickening smile. "Don't touch them," she growls. He raises his hand, and looks down. "I... Please, Miss, I need to go too... the thing was after my father, and almost... can I please be excused?" his voice cracks, and the teacher nods.

"Anyone else who saw the attacks is excused," she says, and half the class gets up, leaving.

...

Juleka holds Rose tightly. "Shh, shh, it's okay, I love you, you're safe..."

"It was too much," the tiny blonde sobs, hugging Juleka tightly. "She was eating people... she tried to take a bite out of me, and oh god..."

"You called?"

The girls turn to see him, wings wide, and smile sweet. "Papillon," Juleka growls, stepping between him and Rose instantly. "You can't have her. She's mine, and if you touch her I will kill you."

Papillon's eyes widen, and he beams. "I get it! She's like... your Princess, right?"

Juleka gives a skeptical glance, but nods. "You won't hurt her."

"What kind of hypocrite would I be to split up lovers, when I'm doing all this for the girl I love, myself?" he laughs, as the butterflies circle them. "I'll let you protect her... she's the Princess, and you're the Knight," he laughs, and Juleka holds Rose tight.

"Accept it," she whispers to Rose. "He'll force it if you don't. I can't see you disappear like that man did. Please."

Rose nods, and kisses her softly. "Together then?"

"Together."

...

The Knight walks out on a trail of rose petals,carrying the Princess in her arms. Marinette whispers a "thank you" that they don't have the flowers in their eyes- she has a shot at bringing them back to normal. He didn't murder people he knew.

She transforms, and goes to meet up with Mr. Noir. "No more fighting solo until Adrien's neutralized," he said, and she can't help but agree. He's manipulated her into going along with his plans for weeks, even pushing him to 'get serious,' something she sincerely regrets right now.

Mr. Noir lands beside her. "Well. That went even worse than expected."

"What?"

"Trying to talk with my son about appropriate behavior with a Miraculous."

She blinks at him. "What?"

"I thought it would be a good idea to talk to him, and try to see his point of view, so we could bring him around-"

"He won't listen to that!" she shakes her head, stunned. "Mr. Noir, I know you're his father, but I'm hid girlfriend- well, I was his girlfriend- and if I couldn't convince him to stop with my ultimatum, you won't be able to with talking!"

"Does it look like I succeeded, Young Lady?" he snaps, before taking a deep breath. "What can these two girls do?"

"Dunno yet," Marinette shrugs. "I'm worried though, he wouldn't make an easy akuma just like that... unless it's an olive branch?"

It's Gabriel's turn to roll his eyes. "Right."

The heroes head out, looking for the chaos...

And Marinette's eye widen in shock. "No... no, no, why am I seeing this?" she cringes, closing her eyes and looking away from the chaos. It's a twisted mass of bodies, holding weaponry and fighting each other on one side, while the other is full of people passed out, sleeping, seeming almost dead...

"I am the Princess who brings sleep," Rose murmurs, throwing her rose at the heart of another terrified victim.

"Well, aren't you going to fight for your love?" Juleka demands, stabbing the shoulder of another man, who is suddenly standing over his partner with eyes on fire.

The Knight and the Princess are generous: they're giving everyone what they themselves desire. Strength... and oblivion.

"We need to stop this," Marinette takes a breath, and prepares for the fight.

"Oh, but Princess, why would you do a thing like that?"

The heroes turn to see Papillon, the butterflies making a ring on his curls like a crown, as he reaches out a hand towards Marinette.

"After all," he laughs. "You're a Princess too, and you can have anything you want in this fairytale."


	43. Chapter 43

Adrien's day hasn't gone swimmingly. For one thing, he's pretty sure he won't be coming home until he wins, which means that, aside from time spent with Marinette, he'll be Papillon every minute of the day...

But now he knows who he's after. Marinette and Father are all that stand between him, and the world. And if he can prove that Marinette loves him, and make her see his point of view, and what's in it for her, the she'll certainly join him eventually, right? Honestly, what can he do now? Turn back? Accept that he killed pointlessly? Move on?

Never gonna happen.

He meets her eyes, and feels the thrill of joy and protectiveness that always races through him, looking at her, even when she's looking at him with fury and hatred. He extends his hand towards his Princess, with wide eyes. "I love you. You know it's true. I wouldn't do this if I didn't know that the end would justify everything, for both of us."

She bites her lip, seeming to hesitate. "Papillon..."

"You love me, right?" he asks, voice quiet, almost scared. "You still love me, even though things have been changing, right?"

She doesn't move a muscle. "That doesn't matter anymore. Love or not, we should have figured out that a hero and a villain won't work."

"I'm not a villain," he steps toward her, taking her hand in his. "Princess, it's still me."

His father steps between them, eyes flashing. "Adrien, have I really failed you as a father so much that you never learned what the word 'no' means?"

The Butterflies begin circling them. "You failed as a father when you first locked me away from the world and forgot I existed."

Father cringes back. "I was trying to protect you from this. From the carnage in your blood."

"Good job!" Adrien rolls his eyes. "Really doing great there."

Marinette puts a hand on his father's shoulder. "Um, Mr. Agreste? Not to interrupt. but... akumas... blood... murder... we don't exactly have time to talk."

The man looks between the two kids, and nods. "Right you are, little Lady. Time to go. Adrien Agreste we are not done talking about this," he rushes through the last line before vaulting away. Marinette looks back, and nods slightly.

"Yes. Of course I do," she whispers, before swinging down to fight the akumas.

...

It isn't easy to fight two akumas at once. Gabriel's just glad that at least one of them is relatively nonviolent... if they take out the Knight, then the Princess will fall easily.

The Knight is proving difficult to take out.

The armies of soldiers, fighting out of love, aren't giving up any time soon, no matter how stacked against them the odds are, which makes it hard to incapacitate them without resorting to casualties. Love is a powerful motivator. Man, Gabriel is glad that he has his staff, not the knives, or someone would have gotten very, very hurt by now.

He knocks aside a pair of soldiers, heading for the leader, the Knight. She's standing protectively over the Princess, blade at the ready, and for a moment, Gabriel's almost proud of his son. To find such strong emotion, and bend it to his whim, takes a lot of strength. Yes, it's twisted and wrong, and yes, Adrien's in trouble, but still... undeniably impressive.

The girl sees him and steps forward. "Give me the ring. Then he'll let her go."

Gabriel sighs. "Nobel though your intentions are, I must refuse."

"If you will not give it over willingly, I am prepared to take it forcibly."

He nods, readying his staff. "You are prepared to try."

She smiles, and lunges, but it's easily parried. Her eyes widen. "Oh."

"Oh."

He's more than a match for her, and while she's busy fighting him, she's distracted from Princess, who's daydreaming, not noticing the girl sneaking up behind her...

...

Marinette snaps the hair ribbon lightly, without too much trouble. She's honestly a little offended that the akuma he named for her is so weak and delicate. Nothing without the Knight. She wrinkles her nose, as Rose falls to the ground, as much under the spell of oblivion as any other victim, and glares up at Adrien. "I can fight you, you know!" she calls up. "I'm not weak!"

"If you were weak, you wouldn't be you," he calls back, voice carrying over the rooftops.

Meanwhile, the Knight is distracted, turning quickly. "Rose!"

She finds herself knocked upside the head, into Marinette's arms. "Thanks," she grins, snapping the sword over her knee, and activating the cure... huh. That was easy. Too easy. After Jackady, this wasn't what she expected.

That's when she notices that the people the Princess put to sleep, aren't waking up. Rose's blue eyes flutter open, as Juleka holds her gently, but everyone else lies in the street, over forty people. She runs to the bodies, checking, and... yes, that's a pulse, and she can see the rise and fall of the chests. They aren't dead, but why aren't they waking up?!

"He's still transformed," Gabriel growls. "And he's using his energy to keep them under a spell. Remind me to ground him."

"What do we do?" Marinette looks to the older man. "I've never dealt with him like this before, murderous. You have. Or someone like him, anyway."

"I'll get them to a hospital," he says calmly. "You're about to detransform."

Marinette hesitates, but nods, and heads away...

...

Lila Rossi steps into the sunlight of Paris, smiling brightly. "Finally..." she laughs, twirling around excitedly. She managed it. She actually managed to get out of that house! She can scarcely believe it, but she's in Paris, and she'll be here for the next year, right?

She begins racing down the street, eyes bright, and hair blowing in the gentle breeze. She's here, in the city of lights, love, and recently, of magic. And in her heart, she's certain that whatever power has been choosing citizens to be heroes and villains, is going to choose her as a heroine.

She's never been more ready in her life.


	44. Chapter 44

Rose jolts awake, tears streaming down her face, and hugs her pillow tightly. She tries to quiet her sobs, but apparently she fails, as Juleka stirs, eyes opening. "Rose..." she murmurs, sitting up and putting her arms around the girl. "It's not your fault. You were akumatized, it's not your fault."

"Th-they're still comatose..." the tiny blonde flings her arms around her girlfriend, soaking her nightshirt with tears.

"Shh... shh... it's okay. It's okay. You're a victim too. You and I aren't to blame for what happened, he is."

Rose shivers, and nods slowly. "O-okay."

"Okay. Are you feeling better?"

"Yeah."

"Can we get some sleep, or do you want me to stay up with you?"

"...Would you? Please?"

Juleka sighs, and holds Rose tighter. "Wouldn't have offered otherwise."

...

Adrien stands at the top of the tower, waiting, preparing for school. This has to end. Soon. He can't stay transformed forever, and he can't live with being hated by her. He's certain that once he wins she'll forgive him, at the sight of the beautiful new utopia they'll reign over. She loves him. She said so. She said just yesterday she loves him. So yeah, of course she'll forgive him. And it'll be fine. And they'll be in love. And then, at last, he won't be the villain anymore, they'll be happy, and he can fix all the pain he caused...

So right now, he needs a very, very powerful akuma. As strong as Nathanael was, built off something more potent than fear, anger, or despair, with the addition of his new policy of no-holds-barred control. Someone who could take the Miraculous for real.

Where is he supposed to find that akuma though?

...

Lila takes a slow breath, and walks into the classroom, eyes bright with excitement. First day in school in Paris. She's got this.

She steps into the classroom, and nearly runs back out at the sight of all eyes on her. She does not got this!

She takes a slow breath, and remembers her acting. Just play the role of strong and confident. Become the character. After closing her eyes for a moment, she allows a brilliant smile to take over her face, eyes bright, as she juts her hip. "Well, hello Paris! I'm Lila Rossi, and I'm here because I intend to save the world!"

The students blink. A few let out half-shocked laughs.

"Are... are you serious?" one girl, with black ponytails, asks softly.

"Of course! I'm going to be the next hero, and I'm not going to waste time kissing the psychopath," she flips her hair, leaning back against the desk. This earns a chuckle from a blond boy, sitting behind the ponytail girl, who is now watching her with a kind of... hunger in his eyes. Okay, sorta creepy, but whatever.

"You can take your seat in the back, Lila," the teacher smiles, and Lila nearly skips to the back of the room, oblivious to the horrors that await her in the near future.

...

Marinette grabs Adrien's arm after class. "I know you think I didn't see the way you were looking at her."

"What?" he laughs. "Jealous? Don't worry Princess, unlike you, I wouldn't cheat."

She tenses at the reminder. "I never really cheated. It was all you. My subconscious must have recognized that, because I would not cheat on anyone!"

He gives her a blank look. "Really. Your subconscious recognized me. That's what you're going with here."

"You killed nineteen people two days ago, and put dozens into comas yesterday. How is me kissing you when you had a mask on even an issue at this point?" she snaps. "Anyway, we're not even together anymore. The point is moot."

He groans. "So why were you jealous of Lila then?"

"I'm not, I know you're too obsessed with me to want her like that, I just don't want you to hurt the poor girl!"

"Sure you don't," he smirks, resting his hands on her shoulders, a move she jerks away from. He leans down, before she can escape, and presses his lips to hers, feeling her instinctively melt into him before yanking away.

"No! Stop it, Adrien!" she pushes him away. "What the hell do I even see in you?"

"A pretty face," he growls softly. "Just like everybody else." He spins around, and in a flurry of colored wings, he's gone. Marinette groans, wondering how the hell she's going to save Lila Rossi before she's turned into a soulless monster.

And how she's going to manage to control Adrien when he keeps stealing kisses that she's been conditioned into reciprocating.

...

Lila is wandering down the street, thinking on her day. Everyone seemed pretty cool, aside from those two weirdos, Ponytails and Blondie, who kept staring at each other and her the whole time, in a really unnerving way. SHe's pretty sure that neither one is quite right in the head. Still, everyone else... although a little nervous, seemed welcoming, and generally kind. And she's sure she's thisclose to being a superhero, just watch!

"You're right. You have been chosen, Lila Rossi," a voice comes from behind her, and she spins around, gasping at the sight. Behind her stands a beautiful, beautiful boy, with wings... "You're going to be the next champion," he whispers, coming close to her, and stroking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"I am?" she murmurs, meeting those eyes that keep shifting, the green and violet swirling like paints in the iris.

"Do you accept it? Will you fight for me, for a world of peace and justice? Will you become mine, Volpina?" he holds out a necklace.

"Volpina," she whispers. "That's the hero name?"

"It is."

She slowly nods, taking the necklace. "What do I do?"

"Place it around your neck, close your eyes, and swear to bind your soul to mine until our goals are reached," he smiles. "Just focus on all the good you'll do, and you can control worlds."

She takes a deep breath, and clasps the chain around her neck, eyes closing as she realizes- everything she dreamed of as a child is coming true. She's going to be a hero! "I hereby bind my soul to yours. I will become your champion, and serve our goals until all are reached." She feels the necklace pulse, and her heartbeat quickens. It's happening... It's...

What's happening?

Her eyes fly open as the claws shoot out her hands, and she feels the fangs crowd her mouth as she begins to scream.


	45. Chapter 45

Marinette has now hit the doorbell over fifty times in the last ten seconds. The camera shoots down, and a woman's voice comes through the speaker.

"Honestly, Marinette, you're practically family at this point, you should get your own key... but that's a bit many times to ring the bell, don't you think?" Bridgette sounds halfway between amused and tired. "Is Adrien with you, by any chance?"

"No," Marinette tilts her head. "Didn't Mr. Noir tell you about...?"

"He did. Both my boys are in big trouble. Come on in, I'm sure we can sort things through so nobody gets hurt."

The gates open, and Marinette steps through, shivering slightly. Adrien's house. The place he hated, the place he used to say he wanted to make happy again. But then everything went to shit.

She enters, and sees Bridgette standing at the base of the staircase, looking every inch a princess from a fairy tale... The kind that rips other princesses to bits. Marinette silently thanks her stars that she's the same type. "People have already been hurt. A lot of people. I'm particularly worried for a new girl in our class who Adrien seemed interested in-"

"Adrien is only interested in you, sweetheart, I can promise you that," Bridgette smiles. "He is my son after all, loyalty is in his blood. I'm sure he was very distraught when you broke things off."

"He broke things off. I gave him a choice between me and world domination, and he chose world domination. That's not on me."

Bridgette shrugs. "I'm just saying, I don't think he'll cheat on you... however, he might try to kill you eventually."

Marinette's heart just about stops. "E-excuse me, what?"

"You may want to sit down," Bridgette gestures to the couch, and Marinette sinks into the cushions. They're very soft, and it feels nice, but... she's very concerned with the declaration that Adrien is probably going to try to kill her. Bridgette sits beside her, giving a sympathetic look. "See, our family is a bit... off-kilter. You 'll join it soon enough, you ought to know."

"Um, I don't think Adrien and I are getting married soon, we're kind of in the middle of a giant fight..."

Bridgette shrugs again. "If neither of you dies, then you'll end up living happily ever after somehow. Trust me, I know true love when I see it!"

"He just murdered innocent people, put more innocent people into comas, and totally traumatized a classmate of ours. Also me. I'm pretty damn traumatized right about now," Marinette deadpans. She thought, what with the way Adrien hyped up his mom, that the woman would at least be kinda-sorta sane. She's starting to realize that's not accurate in any way shape or form. Bridgette is where Adrien gets his crazy from.

"Look, I was just going to ask if you had any ideas on how to deal with Adrien having what amounts to a major temper tantrum with superpowers," Marinette explains.

"Que sera sera," Bridgette sighs.

Marinette decides that she is officially done with the Agrestes. They're way too dramatic, and not sane enough.

She knows, though, that she won't keep that resolution for long...

...

"What do you want with me?" Volpina asks, voice shaking.

Adrien has to smile at that. She's right to be scared. "Why, to rule the world, of course!"

"Well I don't want any part of it!" she snaps, but her continued shaking ruins the effect. "You turned me into a m-monster!"

Adrien frowns. She looks like a fox heroine to him. It isn't his fault that she doesn't like it. "I did what you wanted me to."

"N-no, this isn't what I wanted!"

"You said you were going to be a superhero, and bring me down. Did you think I wouldn't retaliate, Volpina?"

"Don't call me that!" A tear slides down her cheek as she cringes away. "I... I don't want to be part of this! I wanted everyone to love me, but nobody loves someone evil!"

Her words strike a cord, and he twists the pin, her arms snapping to her sides and her legs locking. Her eyes are full of frightened tears still, and he just loves the sight. "I wouldn't say that," he shrugs. "Marinette loves me."

Volpina seems to think for a moment, before her eyes light up. "Ponytails girl... wait, creepy blond guy..." He isn't sure he appreciates the moniker. "She loves you? ...Do you love her?"

A few days ago, Adrien would have said yes in an instant. "That's the million-dollar question, isn't it? I used to think so. Now, though... after all I've done to her, can I really say I love her?"

"You can't lead someone on like that, that's a total douche bag move!"

"I won't let anyone else have her. Better to keep her as mine than kill her for loving another."

He barely realizes what he's said until the girl reacts, horror-struck. "You'd... really kill the person who loves you?"

No. No, that can't be right. He'd never, he'd never do that, no, no, no... he could bring her back... once he got the miraculous, he could bring her back easily... but he swore, he swore he'd never hurt her... "Who knows? I've done a lot I never thought I'd do."

"Let me go! I don't want anything to do with you, Papillon! Turn me back to normal, now!"

Adrien's honestly getting bored. The pleading was fun at first, but now it's gotten monotonous. "Stop it. You accepted the deal. You bonded yourself to me, and you're mine now. You think you'll go back to normal? Please, you can't even remember your own name. You're my Volpina."

"I am not! My name's... it's..." she stammers, trailing off.

"It's...?"

"Shut up! I'm not your toy!"

"Yes you are," he sighs. "How about this: if you can tell me your real name, I'll let you go. If you get it wrong, you're my servant until you die. Deal?"

"Deal!" she smiles, confidently. "I'm Volpina, of course... wait, no..."

"Two more tries," he grins. "You don't have to use them now, but until you get it right, your name is Volpina, and you belong to me."

"I don't belong to anyone," she growls. "I made a mistake and trusted the wrong person again, but I'll fix it."

"Go ahead then."

"It starts with an... an L," she seems to be thinking hard. "It's... Lilly...?" she glances up, and the hope flickers out of her eyes at his smirk. "It's not Lilly, is it?"

"Last chance," he singsongs.

"I... I know my own name... I have to..." the tears are back. How lovely. "Please, give me a hint!"

"Shouldn't you know your own name?" he strokes the side of her face, tilting her chin up.

She glares, snapping at his fingers. "It's your fault! You did this to me!"

"You accepted it!" he grabs her shoulders staring into her eyes, with a vicious simper. "Volpina. My little pet. My plaything. One shot left."

She takes a breath. "I wouldn't forget who I am. My name. It's... Lola?" her eyes meet his.

"Wrong," he says, softly. "Your name is Volpina, now and forever. And you belong to me."

"No, I need another chance, please, please!" she screams, as the flower blooms in her eye socket, and her tears abruptly end.


	46. Chapter 46

Gabriel is walking to his desk when he hears them talking.

"Mrs. Agreste, I'm serious, he's lost whatever sanity he had, why aren't you taking this seriously?"

"Do you love him?"

"Well, I mean, yeah, but-"

"Then accept him, and support him," Bridgette is smiling widely.

Gabriel takes this as his cue to step in. "That's the worst advice possible, you've supported him enough, it's time to rectify the situation as best we can with all the methods we possess. Your safety and his are top priority, of course, but other than that, we cannot allow personal feelings to sway us on this subject."

"Oh thank god," Marinette relaxes. "The sane one. I was hoping you'd show up."

He can't help but laugh at the descriptor. "I'm not sane, Little Lady. Neither will you be, when all's said and done. Nobody gets out of this business with their sanity intact."

"Not true, you and I just failed at ethics," Bridgette's bell-like laughter echoes. "And it looks like our son inherited that, don't you think, babe?"

Marinette's smile fades. "Look. I want to get this over with. He's gotten serious, I think he's trying to end this as soon as he can, which means we have to end it first. We have to find him, and get the pin off him. Bind it to someone else, or destroy it if we have to, we can't let Adrien keep it." .

"So how do we get the pin off him?" Gabriel tilts his head.

"Next akuma, I'm going to get myself in danger. Real danger, not from him. He'll come to save me... I know he will." He will, right? "When he comes, I'll ask him to kiss me, and he'll let his guard down. I'll take the pin, and escape. How's that for a plan?"

Gabriel and Bridgette glance at each other. "Conniving," Bridgette comments. "No sense of self-preservation. Manipulative. Trusting of human nature. You've raised her well, Gabriel."

"I don't like you being in danger, but I suppose you can handle it," he sighs slightly. "What should Bridgette and I do?"

...

Volpina paces over the rooftop. The flower in her right eye hurts, and she can't see out of it. A foxglove, ironically. What's worse, is that she can feel it's roots in her mind, subtly controlling her thoughts. She can't think of her master as anything other than her master, and that idea makes her sick to her stomach. Her name, her real name, is a total blank, of course. When she tries to think of goals, and dreams, all she can imagine is the stones in her hand, giving them to her master...

That's not quite true.

There's another goal there. A new dream. Her master, suffering, begging for mercy, and being as destroyed as she's been. She wants revenge. She wants it so bad she could cry, expect that the flower can't cry, and her other eye doesn't feel quite right either anymore, as if she's not certain that what she sees is real, or if it's what he wants her to see. The loss of control is just about killing her, which makes her think she must have wanted freedom once, although she can't bring herself to want it anymore. All she can do is hate being controlled.

"You despise me, don't you?" he asks suddenly, looking to her. He looks too beautiful, and far too innocent, for the monster he is.

"I want to hurt you," she tells him, her voice coming out emotionless. She hasn't been able to remember how to express emotions since the flower bloomed. It bothers her.

"None of the other akumas wanted to hurt me," he turns his back on her, and it would be so easy to sink her claws into him and rip him apart, but each time she tries, she finds herself unable to. She's no threat to her master. He can turn his back on her all he wants. "I'm sorry, Volpina, I didn't think you'd be sentient after the flower bloomed, I figured it would just take a little reworking and you'd be gone until I was done using you. Like a reusable akuma. I didn't think you'd be a living one."

She cringes at the thought. "I don't see how that makes it better."

"Well, you weren't meant to suffer," he sighs softly. "I didn't mean to make you feel all of this."

She doesn't respond. What should she say? 'It's okay, Master, I don't mind!' No, not happening. She minds. She really, really minds.

He glances over the horizon. "Your powers are those of the heroes. Well, almost. You can create anything, but only soo long as it's used for destruction. Clever, right?" he smirks at her. "You, Volpina, are my ultimate weapon. You'll decimate the city, and they'll have to give in."

She meets his eyes. "I will do as you say, Master."

He cringes slightly, and she wonders if looking at the ruin of a girl is too much for him. He won't sleep tonight, certainly. And maybe, just maybe, one of those weapons of destruction will misfire if she makes them unstable enough.

...

There's a tapping at Marinette's window that night. Slowly, she walks to the curtains, heart pounding as she wonders which set of eyes awaits her. She pushes the curtain aside...

Green...

He's soaked from rain, and his hair is wild. His black t-shirt and jeans are dirty, and his eyes look so, so sad. He mouths the words, "Let me in. Please."

"Why should I?" she replies, tilting her head.

He shivers, placing a hand against the glass. "I love you."

She closes her eyes. Maybe... she can't take the pin now, she's alone, in an enclosed space, he'd get it back from her. But she could soften him up for tomorrow's plan.

The window opens, and he comes inside. "I did something bad. Something really bad, and I... I need you," his voice breaks, as he stands tentatively, just inside the window.

"Worse than killing?" she frowned.

"Princess, you know I'll bring them back, you know none of this is permanent," he looks at her with pleading eyes. "I'm not a killer. It's still me, it's still Adrien, you know I'd never do anything if I thought it would hurt you."

"Everything you do hurts me, Adrien," she says quietly. "I wasn't the one who left first, you know."

He reaches a hand out toward her, and she steps back. He lets his hand fall, rubbing the back of his neck in a gesture that's just so... so Adrien, that she almost hugs him. Not quite, but almost.

Not quite, but almost. That's them in a nutshell. "I miss the way you used to be," she tells him quietly. "Everything went wrong the day after you took me flying. Do you remember?" She meets his eyes. "Everything was good. I loved you so much, both halves, and I knew you loved me. Then you changed..."

"Tell me what to say," he looks at her.

She rakes a deep breath. "Say it's over. Say you'll stop, now. Say you'll give up the world domination, and just go back to being the boy I love more than anything."

He looks at her, hesitating. "I... I destroyed someone tonight. Not killed, but destroyed."

"Lila?"

"Volpina, now."

Marinette looks down. "If you had the stones, what would you do?"

"I'd fix the world-"

"No. What would you do?"

He looks away. "I don't know. I have to make things better. The end must justify the means."

She steps close to him, and puts her arms around him, holding him tightly. "This is the last time," she says softly. "I care about you, Adrien. But until you can choose me, this is the last time I'll love you."

He holds her back, and she hears his quiet sobs as they stand, and miss the love they had once upon a time.

Far too soon, it's over.


	47. Chapter 47

Gabriel shivers slightly, as he stands in the wind, above the city. There's a déjà vu about the situation, the feeling in the air like everything's about to come to a close. It's the feeling he had for the first time when he was fifteen years old, the morning of the day he first killed. A teacher, a man called Arouet, if he recalls correctly, who'd been controlled by… well, by Adrien's grandparents. He remembers Bridgette's scream as the man's flesh began to fall away under his touch, as she stared at him with terror and betrayal. The first real ending, the end of innocence.

There's going to be another ending tonight. He can feel it, in each heartbeat. For the first time, he's scared, because there are only a few things that can end tonight- the fight against his son… or the life of someone he cares for.

He doesn't want to see his son killed. Nor does he want to see his daughter's- because yes, she _is_ his daughter, she has been since she took the earrings and fell into a world where her real parents can't protect her- death.

There is going to be an ending tonight. And every time he's felt that, it's been two endings, the ending of a stage in his life… and the ending of another's life in general.

…

"Now, let's begin," Adrien- no, _Papillon-_ smiles, running a hand through his hair, and waving his other towards his new toy. The girl he broke until she was nothing else.

It looks at him with those eyes, one beautiful dark green, and one… that isn't really an eye anymore. "Yes, Master," it says, emptiness in it's tone. The emptiness, he is aware, is a mask for the hatred. Doesn't matter. It's not a real person he's using, not really. None of these people are real. They'll be easy to fix, and recreate, once he's god. She won't remember any of this. As long as he remembers that, there's nothing to hold him back.

She closes her green eye- the flower can't really close- and reality flickers, until her hand holds a sword of twisted flames. Not flaming, made of solid flame. He shakes slightly, and grins. "Volpina. Go. Make the city burn."

"Yes, Master."

She twirls the sword, and almost smiles as she leaps from the building into the crowd below, and her blade cauterizes each wound she makes instantly. Bloodless. Horrific.

Adrien feels like he's going to be sick before he remembers that they aren't real. Not permanently, at least. Still, the smell of burnt flesh makes him want to throw up.

…

Marinette transforms at the scent, as soon as it reaches her window. She wonders if she's supposed to be shocked and horrified at this point, and her calm is a result of numbing terror, or if she's just used to things getting worse and worse by now.

She lands on the ground, wrapping her yo-yo around Volpina's blade, pulling it away from the little boy's hand just before it can be severed. There's still a cut, a scar, but he'll have full use of the limb. "Run, everyone!" she calls, authoritatively. "I'll handle this, get below ground!"

Butterflies can't go underground, after all.

The fight is… harder than it was with any that came before. It won't be hard to get hurt, she knows that. What will be hard is trying to fight hard enough to give everyone time to evacuate.

Volpina's foxglove eye seems to pulse, nectar dripping from it like some kind of distorted tears. She'd reach out to brush them off the girl's cheek if she wasn't using every inch of her body and mind to keep her in check.

"Lila, I'm so sorry," she whispers, as the tears stream out. Volpina hesitates.

"L-Lila?"

"It was your name, before he took it from you," Marinette takes advantage of the distraction wrapping the yo-yo around Volpina's arm and yanking up. The sword goes flying, landing against the asphalt and dissipating into golden liquid, something almost like ichor. Volpina looks at it, and tilts her head.

"My name was Lila…" she says it softly, without much emotion, but the nectar pouring from the flower doubles. "So that's who I've been missing." She looks up, pulling her hands apart, and holding dual grenades. "Will I ever see her again?"

Marinette has to wrap her yo-yo around a skylight and pull herself up to avoid the blasts, and still feels a pain go through her leg. Just a scratch. "I don't know. I'll try to save her, if I can."

Volpina raises her arms up, and a pillar of earth raises her to Marinette's level. "She'd probably thank you for that."

In an instant, Marinette feels the earth around her shake, and she understands how that pillar was made to destroy- by taking the ground out from beneath her. She only has enough time before she hits the ground to know that what happens next is going to really, really hurt.

…

She looks down at the girl. Marinette. The one her Master wants. He might even love her, but he certainly wants her. Volpina brushes the girl's bangs back. Taking this girl away… it will hurt him. She wants to hurt him.

She lifts the girl in her arms, and begins carrying her away. It's time to see if he really loves the girl or not. And she knows, although the girl who used to be called Lila is horrified at the idea, exactly how to do it.

"H-he'll come for me…" the girl in her arms gasps out. "He loves me. He'll come. And everything will be fine. We'll finally be happy…"

"I will not allow that. If he does love you, he is not going to be happy again."

…

Mr. Noir follows the two girls. Is this the Little Lady's plan? Getting held hostage by Volpina? It's risky. Very, very risky, but if Adrien is still Adrien, at least a little, then this will definitely bring him out of wherever he's hiding. Once his son's guard is down, all he has to do is sneak up, and take the pin.

It's way too easy. Something is going to go wrong. But technically speaking, it's a feasible plan, and there's no real reason not to go through with it other than the sneaking horror that something is going to go very, very wrong. And sneaking horror is nothing to base a plan off of.

When they land in an abandoned warehouse, he gets worried.

When he sees the flames starting, he knows that he was right to be.


	48. Chapter 48

He flies through the clouds, and closes his eyes, letting a soft smile make its way over his lips. Volpina won't be easily defeated. It's a moral choice that he made, but it's going to pay off. This will be the last time people suffer, ever. By the time the sun rises, he's certain that he'll have the earrings and the ring.

Volpina hid a bomb in a warehouse, and it's going to send the city to ash. He'll go through the wreckage, and find the Miraculous. Then he can rebuild the city, and the people in it, except better. Everything's going to be so much better than it was, and then… then he won't be the villain. He'll be a good person again, or if not good, at least moral. And then Marinette will love him again.

"Master," the voice echoes through the connection. "I have the earrings. Or the girl attached to the earrings at least."

He nearly falls out of the sky, twisting his pin wildly. "You what?"

"Yes. In the warehouse. With the bombs. They detonate in about… seventeen minutes. So I'll have them off her at that time."

His heart stops in his chest, and he feels the mental link switch off. It's still there, but she- it- isn't listening anymore.

That's the thing about the flowers. They brand his will on the soul of the akumas, but they make things like simple orders much less severe. And he never branded Volpina to keep Marinette safe. Something she knows.

Maybe it doesn't matter. Maybe he can let it happen, and just bring her back. He'll get rid of her memory of it, and even his memory of it. Nobody will ever need to know that once upon a time he let her die…

As soon as he blinks, he sees a hand. Timebreaker. She's racing towards Ladybug, his Marinette, the girl he can hardly believe he's been hurting for over a month now, and no, no, he can't let this happen. It just won't. Before he even thinks of what he's doing, his wings are open over her, and she's staring up at him in shock, and it hurts, but it's for her, and he'll never regret it…

His wings snap wide, and he begins racing to the warehouse. No. No, he's going to protect her. He is _never_ going to let his Princess down. How could he have forgotten that?

He loves her. No utopia, no validation is going to be worth more than her life.

…

The flames around the building part, and he lands on the windowsill, taking a shaky breath. "Volpina, call off the explosives," he orders, closing his wings. Marinette is tied to a chair, and looks up at him, smiling slightly.

"I knew you'd save me," she laughs softly.

He cringes. "I almost didn't."

"But you still did."

Volpina rolls it's eyes. "I'm not calling the explosives off. Not in my programming."

Adrien jumps down from the sill. "Your programming is to obey me."

The girl- the creature- smirks. "My programming is to destroy, and get the Miraculous at any cost. Her life is the cost."

Adrien clenches his fists, walking in, and taking another breath. He stands between Marinette and Volpina. "I won't let you hurt her."

Volpina tilts her head. "I'm your tool. I'm what you made. If she dies, you killed her."

The bomb chimes, almost the same way a Miraculous about to time out would. Ten minutes left.

"Please," he looks between the bomb and Marinette. "Please, I will do _anything,_ just let her go!"

"Anything?" Volpina gives that empty smile. "Will you take her place?"

"Yes."

She almost looks surprised, as Marinette gasps. "No! No, Adrien, this isn't what I wanted, there's got to be another way out, I don't want to lose you!"

He clenches his teeth, and spins towards her, fighting tears. "I don't want to lose you either." He looks back at Volpina. "Let me see her out. Just let me see her leave. I'll stay here, and I'll block the explosion."

"If you fail, she will die. They're strong enough to take out the whole city," Volpina warns. "And the fire will not part for you."

He nods. "I understand," he murmurs. Volpina tosses him a knife, and he slices the ropes binding Marinette. "As soon as you're out, run."

"Adrien, no, just give me the pin and I'll destroy it, and then everything can go back to normal…"

He takes her hand, and kisses it gently. "Princess…"

"It's not fair," her voice breaks. "We were just going to take the pin, not hurt you. And then we… we were going to be happy. After everything, we were finally going to be happy."

Watching her tears, suddenly, it's all clear to him.

"We weren't," he leads her to the door as the bomb chimes again. Five minutes. "You were never going to forgive what I did. I was fooling myself. There is no magic justification for what I did. I am nobody's hero. But please," his voice drops, softer, "know that I… I'm sorry, and that I loved you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

The fire parts, and he detransforms, looking at her with clear green eyes. His own eyes, filled with nothing but pure love. Gently, he pushes her out the door, and the wall of fire goes up once again.

"Well?" Volpina snickers. "Are you going to cover the bomb?"

He nods, taking quicker breaths. He knows he'll be found out as Papillon eventually, and after that, remembered forever as one of the worst villains Paris ever saw. But maybe, if he's lucky…

He transforms, and spreads his wings, letting the scared tears fall as he uses them to cover himself, and the bomb. Maybe, in Marinette's memory…

He remembers rain falling, and holding an umbrella out. He remembers the way she broke through the pain, and made something that, for a short time, was beautiful. Those memories can't be changed. They really were happy, and they'll always be that way, as long as she bothers to remember that it happened.

For an instant, everything hurts, and then, nothing can anymore.


	49. Chapter 49

The headlines that fill the papers make Marinette want to punch someone.

"TERRORIST PAPILLON DEAD: CITIES REJOICE!"

"HEROINE LADYBUG'S SLAYS THE BUTTERFLY"

"INSIDE ADRIEN AGRESTE: THE LIFE THAT MADE THE MONSTER"

All inaccurate, all vicious, and not one giving even the tiniest bit of acknowledgment to the fact that a boy just a few weeks shy of his seventeenth birthday had died horribly, alone, trying to put right what he'd done.

The identities came out almost instantly. She was pushed out as Ladybug, and as she tried in a panic to get back in, alongside Mr. Noir, cameras caught her detransforming. Her screaming Adrien's name… well. It doesn't matter anymore.

Lila had… sort of changed back. In a way. The flower was still in her eye, and it still took her forever to be able to say her own name, but she was close to herself again. Marinette wasn't sure if she hated the girl for what she'd done, or felt pity for all that was done to her.

She feels a hand on her shoulder, and turns to see Nino, giving her a look of sympathy. "If it's worth anything, I buy your version of what went down," he tells her softly. "The guy would do anything for you, and his dad wouldn't threaten you into lying. Well, I mean, if it were me he might, but not you."

She offers a tiny smile. "Thank you."

"Hey, he was my bro, if anyone knows he wasn't all bad it's you and me," Nino's smile is no less sad than Marinette's, but it's clear that he's glad at least one other person isn't disgusted by the memory of his best friend.

Marinette's glad too. "Hey… if you ever need anything, tell me?"

"Same to you," he hugs her quickly. "Adrien would want me to look out for you."

The tears fill her eyes, and suddenly she's crying, and she can't stop. He pats her back awkwardly, and she shakes, not noticing as the butterfly lands on her right shoulder.

She pulls away eventually. "We should get to the funeral. Even if they're going to be booing and mocking him, we should go. He deserves that much."

Nino nods. "I'll drive."

…

The funeral is as bad as she imagined. She, Nino, and the Agrestes seem to be the only people attending… at least, the only people attending to pay last respects. There's a mob outside the cemetery gates, jeering at the empty casket. There was no body to bury- nothing but the pin, and the wings survived the blast. As Marinette walks toward the casket, rain begins to fall, lightly. It seems fitting, in a way, as her hair is plastered to her forehead and her hands, holding her last gift, shake. She gently lies the umbrella beside the casket, and the tears are falling again.

"Hey! Hey Ladybug! Smile for us!"

"Ding-dong the psycho's DEAD!"

"What's with the umbrella? It won't keep him from blowing to bits over and over in hell!"

"I miss you," she whispers, drowning out the crowd. "And I can't forget you. I can't forgive you either, of course, but that doesn't mean I won't always love you. You're my Prince. The Prince of the Butterflies. And I love you. I'm sorry," she presses a gentle kiss to the casket, and stands. Love wasn't enough for them.

Almost, but not quite.

…

She heads to the Agreste manor after the service, and rings the bell once. The door is instantly opened, and she shoves the earrings into Gabriel's hand. "I don't want them anymore. Do whatever you like with them, they hurt too much now."

He stares at the earrings in his hand, the ring still on his finger. "You… want to give up?"

"Ladybug broke Marinette," she says simply. "I can't do this without him to fight. I want to go home and live a normal life, where I don't have to be hurt all the time, and don't have to watch the man I love die for me."

He nods eventually. "Understood, Little Lady."

"Thank you."

…

Bridgette walks in on him, as he contemplates the earrings. "Gabriel. You know what you have to do, right?"

"I'm a hypocrite of the worst kind for thinking of it," he murmurs.

"Save our son. You have creation and destruction. Go back, change it so he'll be okay, I don't care if I'm a casualty or not, you have to save him,"

He gets up, and gently, softly, presses his lips to Bridgette's. "I might not be able to save you the second time around, if I change things."

"If it means our son lives, and is happy, then I don't care. I'll stay there forever if I have to," Bridgette grips Gabriel's arm, looking at him intently. "Please. I'm begging you. I know what you said about using them again, but…"

He nods. "This is for our son. And for the Little Lady. If… if I change things, if I make him the hero from the start…" he thought for a moment. "They'll still need a villain to motivate them into action. Someone to lead them to you."

"Who?"

"I… I know what I have to do, Bridgette. Everything will be fine. Just a few changes, and then I'll send the Miraculous back," he smiles, and slides the earrings into his ears. "Tikki. Plagg. Ascend me."

…

Just a few changes, he thinks. In fact… just three.

Adrien never heard what his mother said about the Miraculous.

Gabriel didn't manage to hide Adrien from Master Fu.

And when Adrien was supposed to have found the butterfly miraculous… Gabriel took it instead.

If this is the role he has to play, a villain that never causes any real harm, someone they can win against, someone just strong enough to make them into heroes, well… then that's the role he'll play. Mr. Noir is gone. Le Papillon… Hawkmoth, is here. And he will save his family.


End file.
